


I'll Keep You Safe, You Keep Me Wild

by nercomi



Category: Sons of Anarchy
Genre: Developing Relationship, Drama, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Not Beta Read, Romance, Rough Sex, Tenderness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-28
Updated: 2016-01-30
Packaged: 2018-05-09 22:42:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 40,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5558306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nercomi/pseuds/nercomi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chibs lives and breathes for the club, his love for his brothers is what makes his past bearable. Pixie has her own scars, but she buries them deep, where not even her almost-brother can find them. Moving to Charming for a change of pace, she finds herself drawn into SAMCRO and the complicated Scot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing but my OCs, I just like to play in Kurt Sutter's sandbox. Not beta read, all errors are my own. Starts pre-season 1.

Juice felt like he was going to vibrate out of his skin, pacing the length of the garage and shooting quick glances at his phone. _With her lead foot, she should be here by now_. He bounced on the balls of his feet, Chibs and Tig staring openly. _Maybe she got lost, maybe she broke down on the side of the road, maybe she was dying in a ditch somewhere_. The rattle of the diesel engine of an old Chevy pulling on the lot made him jump, turning sharply on his heel to jog to the driver-side door.

Kicking the door open sharply, a petite woman in blue jeans and a plaid button down emerged in a huff. Cussing under her breath, she looked up at Juice and squealed “JUAN!” before jumping up and rapping all four of her limbs around the anxious biker. Juice spun her in a wobbly circle, hugging her back with considerable force.

“Look at you! You’re so buff” her tone was joyous, but deepened “What the hell did you do to your head? Does Tia know about those monstrosities?” Running her hands over the tattoos, she swung her legs down and stood in front of him, staring accusingly up at him with one hip cocked.

Chibs stared in shock and the normally hyperactive intelligence officer was railroaded by a tiny slip of a woman. She barely cleared Juice’s chin, her heavily highlighted blond hair flashing in the sunlight as she continued to talk rapid-fire, waving her arms in front of her. Juice finally gave up trying to get a word in edgewise and tossed her over his shoulder. She shrieked loudly, kicking her legs and pounding on his back as he marched towards his stunned brothers.

Chibs couldn’t help but notice the roundness of her arse as in bobbed along with Juice’s shoulders, and neither could Tig judging from the elbow abruptly jammed into the Scot’s ribs.

Juice slid her off of his shoulder and spun her to face his brothers, red-faced and panting she was still one of the most appealing sights Chibs had seen in a while.

She smacked Juice’s arm sharply before turning to face the unfamiliar men. “You going to introduce us, Juan, or am I just supposed to stare awkwardly at them?”

Jumping into action, Juice haltingly replied “So this is my… sister? Sort of…She needs to have her piece of shit truck looked at,” tilting his head in the general direction of Chibs and Tig he said “Pix, these are some of the guys.”

Glaring at him from the corner of her eye, she smiled brightly and turned towards the two men and stuck out a hand, “Actually, my name is Pixie and you are?”

The sister comment made Chibs hesitate. Before he could reach for her outstretched hand, Tig was there cupping it between both of his big mitts.

“S’a pleasure, dollface, where’s Juicy been hiding a beautiful thing like you all these years?” The smarmy tone made Chibs grind his back teeth.

“I just drove down from Seattle, truck’s been a whiney little bitch the whole way, I’m just glad it didn’t strand me somewhere.” The little upturn of the corner of her lips told Chibs she missed nothing about Tig’s intent.

“Way it sounds you were lucky to make it here in one piece.” Extending a hand he added, “name’s Chibs, love.”

“Like a knife? Cool beans.” Her head tilted sideways and unlike most women her eyes stayed focused on his, not once did breaking to assess his scars. After shaking his hand she turned back to Juice and tossed him the keys to her truck. “Well, this isn’t exactly the reunion I had planned but if you don’t mind looking after the POS, Hennessey and I’ll take a walk and maybe come back and grab some dinner later?” her confident tone hesitated slightly on the last bit.

Juice grinned and replied “later” before rapping her up in quick hug.

Walking back over to the truck she whistled sharply, a squat white and rust colored dog slowly poured itself out of the cab waiting patiently for her to clip him onto a lead before following her off the lot.

Smirking, Tig slung an arm over Juice’s shoulders, “If I had a sister that looked like that, I’d never have left home.”

“Haha. Funny. Now stay the fuck away from her.” Dead serious he leveled a glare at both of them.

“I make no promises,” Tig said with an unrepentant grin, “so what’s her deal? She doesn’t exactly look like she fell off of the Oritz family tree.”  

Huffing, Juice shrugged Tig’s arm off and stared at the ground. “We sorta grew up together. My mom looked after her all the time when her dead-beat parents couldn’t. When they died she went to live with her grandparents, we kept in touch.” Looking back up, he’s tone became forceful, “look, she’s as good as my sister, so hands off.”

“Aye, Juicy-boy, whatever ya say.” Chibs was quick to placate him, but the remembering the sway of her hips as she walked off the lot made him question his own resolve.

\----

The truck was old and tired, and Chibs came close to hammer tossing a wrench through the garage bay more than once. _Girly doesn’t know shite about maintainin’ a cage, that much’s for sure._ Turning to Juice he took a long drag on his cigarette and said “Yer sister’s lucky she made it, not a lick o’ mechanical sense in her.”

Sheepishly Juice replied “ya, if it doesn’t bleed she can’t fix it. I shoulda made sure she had it serviced before heading out…not that she would’ve listened.”

“My ears are burning, y’all talking shit about me?” light and teasing, Pixie wandered into the florescent glow of the garage lights Hennessey trailing behind her.

“We’re talking shite about yer rolling rust bucket, lass, have ya ever had it serviced?” The cigarette hanging out the side of his mouth as he talked did funny things to Pixie’s gut. He wasn’t the sort she was normally attracted to, a little bit paunchy and turning grey at the temples, but her visceral reaction to him was stronger than any she’d felt before.

She shrugged, “don’t know, probably should have picked something newer, but this one’s got sentimental value.” Swallowing thickly she continued, “It was my grandpa’s old beater, he kept it for running crap around his property. Anyways, now I’ve got this egg-head to make it purr like a kitten again,” she jutted her chin out in Juice’s direction.

“Don’t think it ever purred, but it’s not gunna die on you just yet.” Juice shot her a vaguely scolding look and she crinkled her nose in response.

“Worry-wart,” her raspberry tongue poked out, “how about I treat you boys to some dinner for working so hard? Your friend, the one with the…” she stuck her fingers out from her head in a gesture meant to mimic Tigs wild hair “…he’s welcome to come too.”

“Tig headed home, but I could eat,” Juice smiled down at her.

Her blue eyes turned questioningly to Chibs, much as she wanted to catch up with Juan, she wouldn’t be heartbroken if he bowed out and left her alone with the gruff looking Scot. _I’ve been single for too damn long_ , she thought to herself.

“Sounds good, love, but maybe we could just have food delivered here? Tha’ way you don’ have to leave the beastie in the truck.” The dog in question was stretched out on the garage floor in a puddle of fur and jowls, snoring lightly. “We have tables around back.” His dimples made Pixie’s knees wobble, their effect undiminished by the asymmetrical scars running up both cheeks.

“Why don’t you pick something, Juan, I’ll go to grab Hen some grub from the truck and then we can put our feet up for a bit.” Hearing his name, the slumbering dog hopped to his feet with surprising speed, his nub of a tail wagging rapidly. Digging around in the cab, she produced two bowls, a water bottle and a ziplock bag of kibble.

Chibs saw his chance to talk to the beautiful newcomer, “I’ll take ya around back while _Juan_ orders us some pizza, get the beastie settled.” Juice missed nothing. His glare was mitigated by Pixie looping her arm through Chibs’.

“Lead on, before Hen fades away from starvation,” she was grinning at him, the thick dog whined in agreement with her statement. _Accent, dimples, and mindful of Hen, I’m so screwed,_ she laughed at herself.    

Her palm felt warm against the bare skin of his forearm, her nails painted a dark navy blue. Chibs studied her face as he led her by the glow of the street lights. Her face was oval, nose dainty and upturned on the end, her lower lip fuller than the top. The light smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose made him wonder if she was freckled elsewhere. She had a large chest for such a petite woman, with wide hips and a dainty waist to match, a true hourglass figure.

“So, Chibs, how long have you known Juan?” He made her feel nervous, slightly self-conscious of her weak attempt to start a conversation.

“Known the lad for a few years now, since I transferred over here from Belfast, he was just a prospect at the time.” Unsure how much detail to give her, he tried to stick to the basics.

She snorted, “I remember the phone calls from his prospecting days, poor baby, never once thought about quitting though, loved y’all too damn much.” Nostalgia struck her, those late night phone calls were what had kept them together through the years. “Never gave me details, but I could tell it was hard on him. Becoming a full patch is his proudest accomplishment.”  

Chibs wondered exactly what details the boy had shared but pushed it aside. “He said you two grew up together?”

Pixie ducked her head before looking up at the dark sky. “It’s a bit of a long story, suffice it to say, my parents weren’t qualified to look after a goldfish much less a little girl. We were living in the same housing complex as Juan, his mom and his older sister. His mom took me in, fed me, made sure I was safe and cared for. She loved me like one of her own and Juan treated me like his sister from day one.” She paused for a second, plopping down at one of the picnic tables and starting to pour water and kibble into the metal bowls. “When I was 13 my parents died. Child Protective Services picked me up and told me I was going to go live with my grandparents. I was so pissed. All I wanted was to stay with Tia and my brother. Juan swore up and down he would erase our identities and we would both live underground.” She forced a laugh, “it all worked out in the end though, my grandparents turned out to be amazing people and they gave me a life I could never have dreamed of.”

“Fate is funny like that, lass.” He sat next to her, pulling out another cigarette. “What brought you out there then?”

“Grams pasted away two years ago and my grandpa just passed this year. It felt like I needed a change, so when Juan suggested Charming I sold off what was left of the estate and packed my bags, and here I am.” Her nose was crinkling again as she looked up at him, snagging the cigarette from between his lips she took a long drag before exhaling deeply and passing it back to him.

Juice jogged over to them, taking a seat on the other side of the table. “Pizza’ll be here in 20, what’re we talking about?”

“Your horrible choice of ink, I though tribal died with the 90’s,” she replied waspishly.

“Don’t hate me ‘cause I’m beautiful” the mohawked biker quipped.  

Chibs watched their banter back and forth with interest. They were both so comfortable with each other, truly brother and sister. It warmed his heart to see Pixie lighting up after the heaviness of her story. He got the sense there was a lot of it left untold.

The delivery boy drove onto the lot, opening the door cautiously, his eyes shifted side to side, not quite making eye contact with either men. Pixie moved towards him, taking the boxes and handing the pimply young boy cash, tipping generously before either of the men could broker an argument about who was paying. Hennessey danced around her legs, putting on his best display of starving puppy.  

“Grabbin’ a beer, either o’ya want one?” The pizza smelled delicious after a hard day’s work.

A positive reply from both, he ducked into the clubhouse to grab the beverages. The prospect was hard at work sweeping as he walked by. Back outside Juice had moved to take Chibs place at Pixie’s side, both of them prying open the boxes. Chibs sat down opposite them and distributed the cold bottles before tucking into a slice of meat lovers and watching the carnage.

Juice had always eaten like he was half a second away from starving and it seemed Pixie also had a hardy appetite. “Goddamn, I’m going to have to extend my run tomorrow.” She wasn’t sorry, not even a little bit as she scarfed down another piece.

They polished off the meat lovers and the Hawaiian, leaving half of a feta covered vegetarian concoction that Chibs wanted no part of.

 As if sensing the availability of food the prospect poked his head out the door. Waving cheerfully, Pixie called to him “there’s some veggie pizza over here if you’re hungry, hun!” He approached slowly, cautious of interrupting the meal and displeasing his sponsor.

“We haven’t met yet, I’m Pixie, Juan’s sister.” The prospect was a cute little thing, sort of on the meek side and much thinner than the other men she’d met.

“Half-Sack, ma’am, it’s nice to meet you.” His tone was sincere and seeing not opposition he snagged a slice of pizza.

“Your mama call you that?” anything had to be better than Half-Sack.

He looked sheepish, “Kip, ma’am.”

“Too young to be a ma’am, Kip, but it’s a pleasure to meet you. Help yourself to the rest of that pizza, prospecting is hard work.” She was smiling sweetly at him and Chibs almost couldn’t stand it, the desire to order the prospect away was strong.

Finishing her beer she stood up and stretched, the hem of her button down rising above her jeans, exposing a strip of flat belly. She faced Juice and said with a yawn “getting late, you better show me home before I fall asleep at the wheel.”

Walking around the table to a standing Chibs she gave him a quick hug, enjoying it more than she probably should have. “Night, Chibs, it was great to meet you, I’m sure I’ll see you again when the parts for my _rust bucket_ come in.”   

Disappointed when she pulled away he replied, “Nice to meet ya too, love, definitely be seeing ya around.” He grinned to himself long after she left.

\----

The sun was bright, but not overly hot when she pulled up to Teller-Morrow the next week. It was still early and Pixie hoped to be able to get in a run while _Juice_ , as he insisted on being called, installed some of the new parts in the POS. She smiled when she spotted Chibs leaning up against a work bench inside of the garage, his long legs stretched out for miles in front of him. It was her lucky day.

“Hey stranger, the idiot said he made an appointment for me? Where’s he at _?” Damn, I wonder if he’d mind me climbing him like a tree_ , she thought to herself, hopping out of the cab.

“Lad had to step out on business for a mo’ but I’ll take care o’ it for ya.” She circled around the open door as her ever-present furry shadow clambered down. He was forced to suck in a sharp breath when he caught sight of the skin tight yoga pants she was sporting.

“You sure, I can always come back later?” She felt bad, disrupting his schedule, but had to admit the thought of him bent over her rickety truck made her heart race a little.

“S’no trouble, love.” _Jesus, she has the perfect arse_ , rounded but not disproportional, just enough meat for a man to grab a hold of, Chibs could kiss the man that made those pants. He squatted down and held out a hand to the jowly dog to inspect. Approving, Hennessey ran is side over the Scot’s shins before sprawling out on top of his work boots, accepting a belly rub as his due.

“Thanks so much!” The gruff looking man lavishing her baby with attention was going to get jumped if he wasn’t careful. “Hen and I’ll go for a run then; my cell number should be on the work order if you need to get a hold of me.” She waved her dog over to get clipped onto his lead.

Watching her jog off was pure pleasure. He sighed to himself, _so much for keeping a respectful distance._    

Pixie felt like she was walking on air the entire route, not even the drudgery of running could dampen her good mood. That man was sex on a stick and the way he was sneaking glimpses of her ass, it seemed like he felt the same. Hennessey started to lag behind and she slowed her pace, walking the last block to the garage. “Let’s get you something to drink, buddy,” she said to the panting spaniel, wiping her forehead with the bottom of her baseball shirt.

Walking into the shade of the garage bay she approached Chibs, still bend over the engine. “How’s it looking?”

Hearing the clicking of nails on the concrete, he turned to her. “Almost done, just a few more bits and you and beastie will be back on the road.” He chuckled as the stout dog melted onto the cool floor, raising his head only enough to drink from the bowl she produced from the cab of her truck, “tuckered him right out, lass.”

“He’s just being dramatic, he needs the exercise and it’ll be too hot for him to do daytime jogs soon.” Hen was her baby and she wasn’t going to let him pack on the pounds, even if she hated running with a passion. “He’s a hunting breed, Clumber Spaniel, if we’d been chasing a bird he would have pulled my arm out of the socket.”

“Ya like to go hunting, lass?” it was slightly shocking to him to think of a delicate woman like her killing anything.

The disbelief in his voice made her think less of him. “Yep, Gramps made sure I could fend for myself. I can butcher my own animals, tan hides, and sight my own scope too.” She knew biker culture tended to go hand in hand with a healthy dose of misogyny, but she had hoped he was a bit more evolved than that.

The defensive tone to her voice told Chibs he had put his foot in something. Recovering quickly he clarified, “s’a handy set o’skills to have, not sure what the hunting in like ‘round here, but we get our fair share o’deer.”         

Relaxing again she replied, “I’m not really sure either, planned to look into it when I got a bit more settled.” She paused “Y’all have a washroom I can use?”

“Sure, lass,” he was relieved to see the tension in her shoulders diminish, “s’just inside the office over there, just leave the beastie with me. I think the boss lady is in there already.” Nodding she headed in the direction he pointed.

Knocking before pulling the door open to the cluttered office she spotted the boss lady in question. She was middle aged with dark hair broken up by chunky blond highlights. She obviously took good care of herself because nothing about her body said middle aged. Her makeup was heavy and combined with the scowl on her face, obviously meant to intimidate.

“Can I help you?” Her gaze was assessing, running over Pixie from head to sneaker-clad toe.

“I’m Pixie…Juan, _Juice’s_ sister…my truck is in the garage and I was wondering if I could use your washroom before settling my bill?” Damn, that unwavering stare made her nervous, it was like being in the principal’s office all over again.  

“So you’re the one that has everyone all stirred up, sure, bathroom’s through there, I’ll try to dig up your bill.” Slightly uneasy, Pixie followed the woman’s directions.

Walking back out, the intimidating woman was sifting through a pile of papers, muttering under her breath. “The only order I can find says “Pixie, don’t even try it” nothing else.”

“That little shit!” She cursed her brother’s sneaky ways. “If it’s not too much trouble, maybe you could ask Chibs the details? They both put in a lot of work and I’m not going to have that asshat foot the bill.”

Laughing outright at the petite blond hissing like a wet kitten, Gemma admired her desire to pay her own way. Most of the women around the club would be more than happy to take advantage of the men’s mechanical knowledge. “Sure, sweetheart, I’ll give you a call when I get him to squeal. I’m Gemma, by the way.” She stuck out a manicured hand.

Shaking in, Pixie put on her best smile, “nice to meet you! I’d better go check on my dog before he decides I’ve abandoned him for good.”

Shaking her head Gemma shouted as Pixie tried to extract herself from the office, “I’m having a family dinner this Sunday, all the boys are coming, get Juice to give you a ride over.” There was no arguing with the queen of SAMCRO.

\----

 Tossing yet another dress down in frustration, Pixie stormed into the living room of Juice’s cramped apartment. “I give up! I have no idea what I’m supposed to wear to this thing.” She crossed her arms and threw herself dramatically down on the couch. Her clothing dilemma had nothing to do with a certain Scot being present at the dinner she told herself.

“Jeans, wear jeans,” Juice commented eyes staying locked to his videogame.

She made a vaguely disgusted sound but stomped back into the bedroom to grab her nicest looking pair of dark wash jeans. Shimmying them up her hips she dug through her suitcase for a flowy tank top and a pair of strappy high heels, her feet wouldn’t thank her but she felt like she needed a bit of armour to face the night. Thank God she’d had the foresight to do her hair and makeup first.

“Alright, let’s leave before I change my mind,” she smacked Juice on the arm when he didn’t respond. Turning to Hennessey she cooed, “be good, baby, mommy’ll be home in a bit.”

“Jesus, you treat that dog better than you treat me.” He glared mockingly at the hairy beast that had been slobbering all over his apartment for the last week.

She snickered, grabbing her old leather jacket and walking outside to wait by his bike. She’d always loved bikes, tearing around her grandparents property on a dirt bike was one of her favorite activities, but the idea of being so vulnerable on busy city streets had always deterred her from getting her motorcycle licence.

Climbing on behind him, she tucked herself in close and told him, “you lay this bike down while I’m wearing my big bitch heals and I’ll gut you like a fish.” His snort was drowned out by the sound of the engine.

Pulling up to Gemma’s and seeing the line of bikes, Pixie fought the urge to turn tail and run. She never did well with this many new people and they were all so important to Juice, she didn’t want to screw up. As if sensing her trepidation Juice threw an arm over her shoulders and led her inside.

A round young boy with curling dark hair nearly plowed into them coming through the door. “Hi Juice.” His smile was bashful but turning towards Pixie he puffed up like a rooster. “You’re really pretty, are you Juice’s old lady?”

Laughing inwardly she replied, “Nope, I’m his sister. Would you mind showing me where I can put my jacket?” If he puffed up any more he was going to fall over.

Offering his elbow, he showed her to the hall closet. “What a gentleman! Thank you, mister?” she questioned, bending slightly to keep hold of his arm.

“Tiki” he supplied, entirely too smug for Juice’s liking.

Seeing Juice enter the back yard but no sign of Pixie, Chibs asked “Where’s tha’ sister o’yours, Juicy? I know Gemma made a fuss about her coming.” Wanting to know where she was had absolutely nothing to do with wanting to keep her away from Tig and his goddamn star-struck prospect.

“Tiki pounced on her before we were even through the door, kid’s giving her the grand tour.” Juice was trying not to be impressed by the eleven year old’s game.

“Munson family charm,” Bobby grinned proudly, Clay slapping him on the back.

Chibs bowed out of the conversation a few minutes later and ducked inside. He found her in the kitchen with the other women. Tiki was perched on the edge of the counter next to her, chatting her ear off as she mashed potatoes in a large pot, Gemma watching the interaction with amusement. Pixie’s smile was magnetic, but the brightly colored ink extending from her left shoulder to mid forearm is what drew is eye. Girly was surprising him at every turn.

“Hey, Gem, can I borrow the lass? Juice wants to introduce her to everyone.” The look Tiki flashed him was not entirely friendly.

“Sure, if _Juice_ wants to introduce her to the guys, then by all means…” Gemma’s inner matchmaker was practically salivating as she watched Chibs not-so-subtly slide his hand to the small of Pixie’s back to guide her to the yard. The thought of permanently removing the name Fiona from the Scotsman’s vocabulary made Gemma feel all tingly inside.

“Thanks for the save back there,” Pixie said enjoying the warm press of his hand against her back, “I thought some of those girls were going to try to stab me to death with their stilettos.”

“Those gashes giving ya trouble, love?” He didn’t like the sound of that, not at all.

“Nah, just didn’t want to shed blood all over Gemma’s kitchen.” She tried to play it off like she was kidding.

Chuckling he replied, “Probably for the best tha’ ya didn’t, first impressions and all.”

Walking her over to the congregation of men, he deposited her at Juice’s side, removing his hand from her back before the intelligence officer could notice.

“Look who I rescued from the clutched of Tiki,” Chibs cut in.

“He’s quite the little lady killer,” she added, hoping she was making an okay impression on the circle of imposing men.

Turning towards the group Juice pointed out each man, “This is Clay, Tiki’s dad Bobby, Jax, Piney, and you already know Tig and the prospect.” Said prospect was running back and forth between the men and the beer cooler. “This is my sister, Pixie.”

“We meet again, dollface, how’s Juicy been treating you?” Tig’s special brand of charm was turned on full blast.

Pixie patted Juice’s arm, “he’s been very accommodating, letting me and Hennessey take over his place until I can find something of my own.”

Juice grimaced at the thought of all of the dog hair floating through his apartment. “If you didn’t insist on bringing that slobbering mess with you, you’d already be moved out.”

Pixie poked him squarely in the ribs, “don’t be hating on my baby.”

Lost, Clay asked her, “So, what brings you to Charming?” His old lady had been sparse with the details on the new chick.

“Moved here to be closer to my brother, Seattle was getting a little lonely.” She wasn’t really in the mood to elaborate further.

“Never liked it much up there, too much rain.” The young blond one, Jax, one flashed her his best panty dropping smile. Normally, he was exactly the sort of guy she’d go for; pretty, built, and temporary.

Nonplussed, she replied, “didn’t mind it so much, I think this Californian sun is going to be murder in the summer.” She freckled terribly in the sun.

Chibs felt like crowing in victory at her lack of response to the Teller charm. “Ya never did tell me what yer planning to do out here.”

“Oh! I’m a veterinarian, I’m hoping to open a clinic in town.” Chibs almost choked on his beer as she chatted about her plans; lass was a doctor.

Clay barked a laugh, “well Doc, I’m sure my old lady’d be happy to have someone in town to bring that damn bird of hers to.”    

“Speaking of Gemma, I’d better get back to helping her, wouldn’t want to miss her putting a boot up someone’s ass. It was nice to meet you all!” The maniacal gleam in her eyes shouldn’t have made Chibs hot under the collar like it did.

Before any of the guys could open their mouths after she was safely inside Juice chimed in, sticking out his hand in a stop gesture, “don’t say it, I’m her brother, I don’t want to hear it.”

Jax let out a low wolf-whistle while the others threw their heads back and laughed.  

\----

If Chibs had been hoping to sit next to her at dinner that dream was crushed when she was flanked by Juice and Tiki. She ate at a much more sedate pace that he had witnessed over pizza, leaning around Juice to talk to Gemma when Tiki had his mouth full. She looked right at home at the big wooden table and he easily could picture her here for other big dinners; Thanksgiving and Christmas. Maybe then he could actually sit next to her.

The only thing marring the domesticity was the pair of croweaters shooting daggers at the side of her head. Janet and Candy had been around the club for a long time, but they weren’t old ladies. The only reason Gemma tolerated them at her table was to help with the grunt work when there were too few old ladies present. Catching a glimpse of Gemma scowling at them, Chibs knew that if they didn’t mind their p’s and q’s around the good doctor they wouldn’t be welcome much longer. Gemma would never outright tell them to back off, no, she expected the women around the club to be able to fight their own battles, but she wouldn’t hesitate to banish them from her home.

Bellies overfull and dishes washed, people slowly started making their way towards the door. Saying her goodnights, Pixie felt a sense of contentment. After giving Tiki a hug, she made sure to express her thanks to Gemma for the invite. These people may be intimidating at first, but they’d welcomed her in with open arms and treated her like family.

Sliding her jacket on, she almost ran nose first into Chibs’ chest. “Well, had a good night, love?”

“It was great,” she said sincerely before giving him a hug. “Thanks for the save, again, I’ll see you later.” Feeling bold, she pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before heading out the door.

“Sweet dreams, love,” he called, leaning against the door jam.

Waiting for her on his bike, Juice turned, “So, what was that?” He was going to have to reiterate the rules to Chibs.

“That was me being a grown ass woman who’s been single for close to two years.” Her proverbial hackles were raised.

 Juice bit his tongue the whole ride home. Before parking himself on the couch for the night, he poked his head into his bedroom. Seeing her still awake, he told her “I’m not trying to tell you what to do, I just don’t want you to get hurt.” He gave her his best puppy eyes, “I love you, you know.”

Forgiving him in a heartbeat she replied “I know, hun, I love you too. Now get some sleep, you’ve got work tomorrow and I’ve got to meet the real-estate agent early.” The sound Hennessey’s snores filled the small apartment.          

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing but the OCs, happy holidays everyone!

The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and there was a gorgeous woman dancing around the office of Teller-Morrow Automotive like nobody was watching. Chibs chuckled as he watched Pixie throw her body around the small space through the window, her head bobbing spastically in time with the radio.

She’d been taking over the office to give Gemma more time to spend with Abel in the NICU and Chibs definitely wasn’t going to complain. For someone who talked a mile a minute, she had a strangely soothing effect on the often impatient patrons of the garage that in turn made the working conditions much more pleasant.

The tune changing to something fast and pop-y, Chibs opened the office door cautiously, “hard at work, love?”

She had a bright flush to her cheeks that brought to mind less innocent activities. “Come dance with me, Chibs!” In between twirls she was sorting old paperwork into piles, Hennessy looking less than amused from his spot on the floor.

“No’ a chance in hell, love.” He was perfectly content to sit back and watch her flail from a safe distance. “Come on beastie, let’s get out of here before either o’ us loses an eye.” She flipped them both the bird as they made good their escape.

Tig was waiting outside and immediately knelt down to give Hen a pat. “The office fairy back again?”

Chibs resented the jeering tone and leveled a glare at Tig. “Aye, she’s sorting out the mountain o’ papers Gem left behind. Doing a fine job o’ it too, we haven’t lost a single work order since she’s been here.” She really had done wonders for the rampant disorganization.

“You hittin’ that yet?”

Chibs refused to dignify the question with an answer. It’s not as if he would jump at the chance, but a quick screw didn’t feel right. She was a good woman who treated all of the Sons she’d met with respect and warmth. She didn’t deserve to be treated like one of the croweaters and he wasn’t sure he could give her more.

Pixie was having a wonderful day. She was making progress on the swirling vortex of paperwork and her offer on an empty store front space nestled in downtown Charming had just been accepted. The elderly woman that had owned it was going to live with her daughter in Florida and had pushed to make the sale happen quickly. Pixie spun around once more and snuck a glance outside the office window. It felt like everything was coming together.

Transferring the stacks of papers she had sorted to the newly labeled trays on the desk and the large file cabinet in the corner, she flopped back in the office chair. It felt nice to be useful when Gemma and Jax were dealing with so much, even if it was just office work.

Gemma had been on the war path ever since little Abel was delivered and she almost pitied the surgeon that had to stand toe to toe with the formidable woman. Pixie was just grateful she had never had to be on the business end of Gemma’s sharp tongue, even without trying the queen of SAMCRO could make her squirm.

It felt nice to be accepted by such an aloof woman and Pixie had noticed the men starting to Gemma’s cues, stopping by to say hello and chat when the office wasn’t busy or they were on lunch break. Bobby had even brought her scratch-made muffins the other day, telling her that Tiki said ‘hi’ with a wink.

Tig was still a mystery and Pixie couldn’t quite figure out if he hated her guts or just treated all women like he did. _Can’t win them all_ , she shrugged. At least Chibs seemed genuinely happy to see her despite the talking-to she knew Juice had given him.        

Wiping the sweat from his eyes with a semi clean rag, Chibs looked up from under the hood of an old Impala. It was noon and on cue the prospect wandered into the office. Chibs had to fight the urge to drop his wrench and intercept the wee man. She was Juice’s responsibility, not his, he reminded himself forcefully. It shouldn’t matter to him so long as the prospect was respectful. Then again it was his prospect and the girl was practically family.

He was thrown out of his musing when she shouted over to them, “Kip’s going to go pick us up some lunch, guys, tell him what you want!”

 _Goddamn arse-kissing prospects_. Chibs contemplated throwing a tire iron at Half-Sack before giving him an unnecessarily complicated sandwich order. She was way too much woman for a grunt like Sack.

\----

Work day almost done, Chibs walked up to the office to check on the next day’s schedule, almost at the door he could hear raised voiced. Looking out on the lot, all that was left was Pixie’s POS and the shiny BMW that had just finished getting an oil change. Twisting his neck side to side until it cracked and rolling his work-tired shoulders, he threw open the door.

Rage filled his gut as he spotted Pixie ripping her forearm out of the grasp of a greasy looking man with a deep health club tan and glowing white teeth. Startling at Chibs entry, the man turned towards the biker, a look of distain crossing his face.

Pixie’s shoulders were square as she bit out, “You need to leave. Now.”

The man turned as if to reply, but Chibs cut him off, “Ye’ll do as the lady asks.” His face was a cold mask, eyes dark and unreadable.

The man broke under the weight of Chibs’ gaze and headed for the door muttering “frigid bitch” under his breath. The swift kick Chibs delivered to the side of his knee filled Chibs with a cold satisfaction as the man tumbled to the ground before scrambling madly to his car.

Walking swiftly around the desk, Chibs closed the distance between him and Pixie. To his surprise, she held a small knife in the hand the man hadn’t grabbed.

“You coming to my rescue is starting to become a pattern, Chibs.” Her voice was flat and she stared somewhere across the room from him.

“Filip, lass, think ya can call me by my real name at this point,” he joked, hoping to break her out of whatever headspace she was stuck in. It was scaring him a bit to see her so distant.

Her smile was thin, but she seemed to come back to herself. “Filip. It suits you.” She folded the knife and tucked it into her jeans. Part of him was still enraged, spoiling for a fight, but she needed him right now more than he needed to bust open the skull of that pushy scumbag.

Leaning back on the desk in front of her, he raised an arm, “com’ere, love.” Unable to resist, she walked into his embrace, head tucked perfectly under his chin. He stayed silent, breathing her in and running his hand up and down her tense back.

Pulling away abruptly, she scrubbed the heel of her hand over her suspiciously shiny eyes. “Don’t worry about me, hun, I got thick skin and a sharp knife. Now go lock up so we can both get out of here.”

Her false display of bravado wasn’t fooling anyone, but Chibs was willing let it alone for the moment. He kissed her forehead before telling her “That you do, lass, now get yer stuff, I’ll follow you and beastie home.” Her lack of protest told him he was right to worry.    

In the dark of the truck cab Pixie fought back a scalding wave of tears as Hennessy tried to crawl into her lap. She was still so damn weak and the shame of it was a bitter pill to swallow. Normally she had shit like that handled, but him grabbing her arm like that had brought on a wave of memories that had damn near paralysed her.

She pulled up to the tiny rancher she’d rented mostly for the doggy door leading out to a large, fully fenced back yard and tried to think up a way to ditch Chibs quick. She absolutely refused to ugly-cry in front of a man she hoped to knock boots with.

Cutting the engine, he stalked over to the truck, holding the door open for her and Hen to exit before following her to the front entrance.

“Ya gonna invite me in fer a cuppa tea, love?” He did is best to deflate the tension that had risen between them.

“Not tonight, babe, you gotta buy me dinner first.” His gravely laughter almost made her keen. _Stop being so nice you big galoot, I need to get this out of my system before I can focus on you._

“I can do tha’, love.” His sincerity was almost painful to her. He leaned in slowly to press a kiss to her cheek and whispering “G’night” in her ear before walking back to his bike and riding off.

Slamming the lock home and making sure Hennessy was squared away, Pixie headed for the shower, letting the tears pour down the drain as she scrubbed the day off until her skin was pink.

\----

Fresh faced and full of caffeine, Pixie entered the small NICU the next morning, waving a quiet hello to Gemma. The antiseptic smell of the ward was strangely comforting in its familiarity; she wondered if it was the same yellow stuff they used in the clinic back home.          

Spotting the doctor outside the room Gemma stood, offering her seat to Pixie. “Hey sweetheart, think you can read him something while I go see what they want?”

Nodding, Pixie picked up a worn copy of Goodnight Moon and started to read. _We need to get you something better than this Babyboy._ Maybe he’d enjoy some Beatrix Potter, she resolved to look through her boxes of books and find something less obnoxious.

The expression on Gemma’s face when she made her way back to the incubator made her look like a pissed off bumblebee in leather boots. “Come on, let’s get some coffee before I shove my boot up that scrawny bitch’s ass.”

Sipping on shitty hospital coffee while Gemma smoked like a chimney, she had to ask, “So what’s with you and that doctor?” She tried not to take the look on Gemma’s face to heart.

“Ancient history, sweetheart, coming back to bite me in the ass.” She quickly changed the subject, “so tell me about the clinic space, I know it used to be a bakery before old man Thatcher keeled over.”

“It’s perfect,” she smiled thinking about her plans for the space. “It needs some big updating, but the space is absolutely perfect. I’m going to keep the front mostly how it is, but the back has more than enough space for a full surgical suite, kennels and exam rooms if I bust through a few walls. I’m thinking about maybe putting in a grooming station too.” It was both terrifying and wonderful to think about all the changes she was going to make.

“You got enough cash to make everything happen? Tearing down walls ain’t cheap.” It warmed Gemma’s heart to think of the bright woman she’d come to like setting down permanent roots, but her plans seemed a bit ambitious for someone so young.    

 _Trust Gemma to get right to the point_. “Between my inheritance and selling off my share in the clinic my grandfather started, I’ll be just fine.” She was more than fine, really, she could afford to take her time and do things right.

“Good, everyone’s just started to get used to you, it’d be a shame to lose you now.” Gemma grinned, if everything worked out Chibby would be slapping his ink on her inside of a year, they both just needed a little push in the right direction. “You coming to the carnival tomorrow? I know someone who would be more than happy to hold your hand on the Ferris wheel.”

Pixie let out an undignified snort. “I’m pretty sure you couldn’t pay any of them enough to hold someone’s hand on a carnival ride, but I’ll be there.” She wasn’t going to miss a gaggle of leather-clad bikers running around a fair like overgrown children, not for anything.

\----  

The smell of funnel cakes and popcorn made Pixie’s stomach turn unpleasantly after going on so many spinning rides. She laughed as Jax, Tig, and Bobby whipped around the track of a small rollercoaster, looking comically large squished into the small cars. She hugged the soft blue bear Juice had won for her on the rigged carnival games, he could be real sweet when he wasn’t being a total moron.

She had to admit she was a little disappointed that Chibs hadn’t turned up. Gemma had pulled her aside in the parking lot to let her know the Scot was picking up a shipment from the docks. Laughing it off, she hopped onto Juice’s back and made him carry her to the first ride.

She briefly thought about dragging him into the photo booth, but though better of it when she saw Clay and Gemma emerging looking too smug for words. Grabbing a ginger ale from the nearest concession stand she stood on her tippy-toes looking for Juice.

Spotting her, he walked over. “We gotta head out, club thing.”

Pixie patted his chest and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Be safe. I’m going to head home, not feeling too hot.” He flashed her a dopey grin before jogging off in the direction of the parking lot.

After making her goodbyes to Gemma she headed for the truck, sipping slowly at the fizzy beverage to try to calm her stomach.

Pulling into the driveway her phone began to chime, caller unknown. Flipping it open she answered with a terse “Hello?”

“I here I owe ya a go ‘round on the Farris wheel, love. We can tack it on to tha’ dinner I promised ya.” His smoke roughened voice made thighs press together involuntarily.

Laughing softly as she fought the door open one handed, swinging down onto tired feet. “Hmmm, now who could possibly have told you that, I wonder?” _Fucking Gemma and her incessant meddling_.

“Lil’ birdy tol’ me so,” he was chuckling at her sarcasm.

“More like a queen bee.” Unlocking the front door, Hennessy danced around her feet. Leaning down to pat him she continued, “I don’t seem to recall agreeing to a date or giving you my number for that matter, but I could be persuaded.” His laugh tightened things low inside her gut.

“I can be awful persuasive, lass. We’ll have to wait a few days though, I’m looking after and old friend tonight and then it looks like I may be heading out on a run.” She hoped he was even half as disappointed as she felt.

“Well that’s a crying shame, babe, ‘cause I’m all by myself right now in a scary new house.” Hitting the button to put the phone on speaker she shucked her dirty jeans and pealed her bra off with a low groan, damn that felt nice, almost as good as taking off your socks after standing on your feet all day.

The line was silent for a second before Chibs asked “Wha’ exactly are ya doin’ there all by yer lonesome?”

Blushing, she realized he had heard her over the speaker, pressing the button again she brought the phone back to her ear. “Not whatever you’re thinking, perv, I needed to change into something that didn’t smell like dust and deep fried foods.”

“If ya say so, love.” Now he really did sound disappointed. “I’ll call ya when I get back so we can set up tha’ dinner, aye?”

Flopping down on her bed she replied with a soft “Ya. Be safe, Filip.” Feeling daring she added, “Just a little FYI, the thing I’m changing into is a pair of lacy red panties.” She hung up before he could reply, heart pounding. 

The next morning there was an unopened text message on her phone. ‘ _Keep those knickers handy.’_ Romance at its finest, she thought pulling the covers back over her head.

\----

Sitting at a rest stop waiting for McKeavey, Chibs heard his cell ping. He smiled when he saw it was from Pixie, the saucy lass had nearly given him a heart attack when he caught that little moan over the phone. He was so wound up, he grabbed the nearest blond sweetbutt and pushed her to her knees the second they made it into a dorm room. He had closed his eyes, leaning against the door and though of nothing but those red lace knickers stretched across the girly’s perfect heart shaped arse.

The text wasn’t the sassy retort he was expecting, rather a simple ‘ _I’ve always wanted a baby brother’_ and a photo attachment, opening the photo he almost fell to the ground shaking with laughter, Juicy boy had got his just reward.

The fact that she had thought to send him something like this was part of the reason he couldn’t resist calling her the other night. She was tough and feisty like a lot of the other women around the club, but she was also smart, independent and kind-hearted.

She walked in the hazy grey zone between being family and being a woman, and the complexities of it almost made him want to tear his hair out. On the one hand, she was Juice’s sister and her brother had set out clear boundaries, but on the other hand Pixie was a free and independent woman sending out some clear signals. She was tough, unafraid of the Sons reputation or his scars, but she was also vulnerable, that day in the office had proven that.

He kicked at the gravel with the toe of his boot, tipping his head back to stare at the blue sky. He wanted her, that much he could admit, and she seemed to want him too, but she didn’t really know him. She had no idea of the weight of his ties to Belfast, had no clue about Fi or Kerri.

He was an old man with a criminal history and a face full of scars, and she was young, beautiful and a doctor to boot. He ran his hands over his face in exhaustion. She was like a magnet drawing him in, whatever was going to happen would happen, but he wouldn’t feel right until he told her. Then it would be up to her to continue this or not, he just had to put the cards on the table.         

\----

Pixie was covered in drywall dust and sweat when Gemma called her at the clinic begging (demanding) help when all of the boys abandoned their posts at her fundraiser. Sighing, she looked down at her scrubby work clothes, she looked like hell.

Scooping up her gym bag from the truck for a change of clothes she did her best to clean up in the small bathroom sink, applying eyeliner with the small sub she found at the bottom of her purse. Fixing her ponytail she looked in the mirror. She wouldn’t be winning any beauty contests in her yoga pants and tank top, but it was better than dirty overalls.

“Come on, baby,” she called to Hen, locking up and heading for the truck.

Taste of Charming was in full swing when she rolled up, Gemma waved her over. “Thank you so much for coming, sweetheart, if you don’t mind could you take over at the kid’s craft table?” She sounded pissed.

 _The guys are so screwed!_ She didn’t want to know what was so important that they would risk being on Gemma’s shit list. She nodded her assent and headed over to the low, round table, looping Hennessy’s leash around a table leg before sitting in the short chairs.

The table was filled with thick sheets of blank paper and colored markers. Glancing at the box the papers came from she stopped short. It was stick-on tattoo paper. The concept of a bunch of bikers handing out DIY temporary tattoos to little kids almost had her rolling on the floor, the PTA was going to have kittens when they saw.

Snagging a page and some markers she doodled a quick heart with ‘Hennessey’ scrawled across it in loopy script. She cut it out and pasted it to her inner wrist, setting it with the wet sponges on the table.    

A young blond girl approached the table tentatively and asked in a timid voice “Can I make one?”

Smiling, Pixie replied “Sure, hun, grab a page and some markers!”

They worked in companionable silence for a few minutes before Pixie looked over to inspect the girl’s work. “Those are some beautiful flowers you drew; do you know where you want to put them?”

The girl gave Pixie a bashful smile. “I want them on my arm like yours.”

Pixie’s heart melted as the girl pulled off her pink sweater and stuck out an arm, helping her apply the tattoo sheet, she introduced herself. “I’m Pixie by the way.”

“Ellie Winston.” She watched the sheet peal way with laser focus.

“Well Ellie, it has been a pleasure, now go show off that new ink!” The young girl’s excitement called to mind the time she and Juice had gotten a small book of stick-on tattoos and children. They’d been covered head to toe in them by the end of the day, Tia just shook her head in exasperation.

Feeling inspired she drew another tattoo, a pacifier with ‘Babyboy’ written on the loop. The next time she snuck up on Juice he was coming away with a new accessory, revenge for trying to get involved in her love life.

She made sure to head out before the fireworks display, Hen was totally fine with the sound having been trained to hunt, but he’d be going bonkers trying to find a downed bird. Settling into bed she noticed a new text message. ‘ _Sleep tight, I’ll be seeing you soon.’_

On the face of it, the message didn’t seem like a big deal, but she knew it was. The men of the club checked in with each other frequently on a run, but the only women they felt they were answerable to were their own old ladies and Gemma.

She rolled over and switched off the light, he might not be a knight in shining armour, but Filip Telford was chivalrous in his own way.       


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing but my OCs. On a side note: I was so focused on writing this I almost didn't notice my house shaking from an earthquake!

“You know I’d really rather you didn’t go to this thing,” Juice called at her from the living room.

“I know, _Babyboy_ , but I’m going to support Kip, besides, everyone will be there.” She was going through her closet, _what says biker-chic without being too slutty?_

Settling on dark jeans, a low cut black top under her old leather jacket and black boots, lacy red panties underneath. She was hoping to finally be able to show them to Chibs after the fight after days of him being too busy with club business to meet. The couple of texts they had sent back and forth had kept her on low simmer since he got back. She walked into the living room to say good night to Hen.

Juice took one look at her, cringed, and said “don’t you have a turtleneck or something?” Short as she was, guys were going to be able to look right down her top, and it was a view Juice wanted no part of.

Scoffing at the idea she replied “I do have turtlenecks, but I don’t look half as good in them and they’re tight enough that my pistol will print.” It was hard enough finding a method of concealment that worked with the angle of her wide hips.

“Why are you carrying? You’re gonna to be surrounded by the guys.” He was already worried, he didn’t like the idea of her feeling like she was going to be in a place where she’d have to use it.

“It makes me feel better knowing I can hold my own if shit happens, you should be happy I’m not planning on being a damsel in distress.” Her hands were on her hips and she was giving him her patented you’re-an-idiot look.

“No, you’re more of a distressing damsel,” he muttered. She cuffed him over the head and headed for the door.

Rolling into the parking lot in front of an old warehouse, Pixie spotted Kip flanked by Chibs and Bobby. Swinging her leg over Juice’s bike she made her way over to them, gravel crunching under her boots.

Chibs shot her a toothy grin and lifted an arm as she approached. “Hallo, love.”

Tucking herself under his arm she wrapped one of hers around his waist and squeezed. “Hey stranger, long time no see.” He smelled like cigarettes and old spice, and she wanted nothing more than to drag him into some dark corner and finish what they had started.

Extracting herself after a moment she said hello to Bobby before turning to Half-Sack and punching him lightly in she shoulder. “Knock ‘em dead, Kip! I’ll be cheering for you!”

His smile was soft and bashful. “Thanks, Doc.” His eyes were all for the skinny brunet in short shorts that was moving closer.

“We’ll both be cheering for you, like your very own cheerleaders.” She was smiling, but her gaze was sharp as she turned to Pixie.

 _Ah, the Nevada sweetbutt Juice was whining about._ “I draw the line at wearing those itty bity skirts though, I’ll leave that shit to you.” She stuck out a hand, “Pixie, Juice’s sister.”

The sweetbutt visibly relaxed, “Cherry.” She shook Pixie’s hand before looping her arm around Pixie’s elbow. “Come on, let’s get the good spots before they’re all taken!” Juice made a noise of protest from behind them.

Sitting down on the rough wooden bleachers, Cherry tried to coax some answers out of her in between bouts. “So how long have you known Kip?”

“Since I got here about two months ago, he’s a good kid, always polite and offering to help.” She grinned inwardly at how transparent Cherry was. “You’re a lucky woman to have caught his eye.”

Her smile was radiant even with the tape on her nose. “I know.” She switched gears abruptly, “What’s with you and the guy with the scars?”

 _Cheeky broad_ , Pixie huffed. “Don’t know. It’s kind of a work in progress much to my brother’s chagrin.”

“But you want to be his old lady, right?” The girl was persistent, Pixie would give her that.

“Right now I want to strip off his cloths and roll around naked on top of him, the rest will work itself out.” Cherry’s eyes went wide and she doubled over in laughter, recovering just in time to jump up and cheer for Half-Sack as he entered the ring.

They had both gotten up for drinks before the final match and somehow gotten separated in the crush of bodies. Craning her neck to try and spot the brunet, Pixie took a sip of her beer and decided to head back to their seats before the fight started.

There was suddenly a hand on her ass. She turned sharply, facing the person the hand was attached to. He was older, with long hair and a potbelly, the picture of white trash. “Retract, asshole, before you lose that hand.” She was so far beyond pissed, it wasn’t even funny.

“How about you come sit with me, darling, and I’ll buy you a drink.” His leering made her feel queasy.

“You need to fuck off before I shove this long neck up your fat ass.” She side-stepped to move around the beefy redneck but he followed her pressing in close.

“Come on now little girl, what’s you’re hurry?” He moved to put a hand on her hip.

She had official hit the limit of her tolerance. Planting her feet solidly she flat-palmed him squarely in the nose before he could utter another syllable, the crunch of cartilage was oh so satisfying. Blinded by blood and watering eyes, she took the opening and kicked hard at his knee, watching as he dropped to the ground.

From further down the bar a handful of men stood and moved towards her. Her hand was reaching for the pistol resting low in the waistband of her jeans but was blocked when a large hand smoothed across her back and settled on her hip. The familiar kutte made her breathe a sigh of relief and relax into the hold.

“Think you boys need to take your buddy home before any of you does something even more stupid.” Clay walked her around the prone man, watching the men carry their fallen friend out the main entrance. “Those were some slick moves, Doc. You always packing?”

“Not always, but I figured there’d be a bit of a rough crowd at a bare-knuckle fight.” She turned to face him and continued, “Thanks for the assist, I appreciate it.” She tried to scrub a spot of blood off her jeans self-consciously.

“We look out for our own, Doc, you don’t gotta worry about that.” He patted her shoulder and left her standing next to an oblivious Juice at the ring side.

She tried to shake it off, focusing on Chibs’ face as he leaned into the ring hollering encouragements at the prospect. He was so animated, full of energy from the fight. She jumped, cheering loudly when Half-Sack knocked out his opponent, wondering why Chibs and Tig were scowling at their victorious prospect.

“Shit,” Juice muttered. At her questioning look, he clarified, “prospect was supposed to throw the fight.”

They headed outside and waited for the others. Waiting until after they had finished ripping a strip off of Kip, Pixie joined the group. She patted Kip on the arm and gave him a sympathetic look as he dragged his feet towards a bike. _Poor kid, at least he’s got Cherry to cheer him up_.              

When Juice moved to talk to Bobby, she walked the few steps to stand in front of Chibs, reaching up to tip his dark sunglasses onto his head. He looked at her curiously, lines of tension around his dark eyes.

She leaned into him, looping her arms around his neck to pull him down and press a kiss to those little creases. His fingers spanned either side of her ribcage when she pulled back.

“Is tha’ a gun, love, or are ya just happy ta see me?” He joked, feeling the outline of her pistol pressing against his thigh.

“You better hope it a gun, babe, or you’re in for a rude awakening when you finally take me home.” She smirked up at him, pulling back a little further she dipped a thumb below her waistband to deliberately let him see a sliver of red lace over her hip.

He threw his head back and laughed, smacking her lightly on the ass. “Gonna be a busy few days and I go’ ta take ya out fer dinner first, love.”

Juice made gagging noises, miming heaving all over Bobby’s shoes.

 _Big baby_ , she thought uncharitably, disappointed that she wasn’t able to spend more time with the Scot. They had unfinished business and anticipation was slowly killing her, but the club came first or so Gemma preached.

The text message that night read ‘ _Sorry for making you wait.’_   

\----

“This is way beyond ma wheelhouse!” Chibs shouted in frustration, Juice’s fingers jammed in Cameron Hayes’s butt cheek.

Gemma grimaced, the Irish bastard couldn’t die on their watch. She turned to storm out, but Juice interrupted.

“Why don’t we call Pix? She does surgeries and shit all the time and I mean, how different can a dog and a person really be?” It would also force her to come to the clubhouse for lockdown he thought to himself, and get his fingers out of another man’s ass faster.

“Good thinking, Juicy!” Chibs slapped him roughly on the shoulder, relieved to have a solution in sight. He rinsed his hands off and grabbed his prepaid, praying she’s pick up.

Her sleep roughened voice filled him with relief. “Hello?”

“Hi, love, we go’ a bit of a problem down at the clubhouse I’m hopin’ ya can help us with.” He explained the situation, greatful, and not for the first time, that she had found her way to Charming.

Dragging boxes around her cramped one car garage, Pixie spotted what she was looking for. It was a tall plastic box with wheels, inside where drawers filled with surgical packs, IV bags and medications she kept in case of an emergency. She rolled it out to the truck, tucking it securely against the back bench seat.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d need to be there, so she ran back in the house grabbing a change of clothes and a couple of scoops of Hen’s food in a baggie. Hearing the food, he glued himself to her legs, following her out to the truck and jumping up to his seat.

Gemma met her at the clubhouse door. “Thanks for coming, sweetheart, they’re in the chapel.” Gemma led her to the door where Chibs was waiting anxiously.

“Hey, love, thanks fer comin’ so quick.” He took the tool box from her, wheeling it into the room.

She turned to Tig who was leaning against the bar and waved in the direction of Hennessy. “Can you keep an eye on him for me? He’s got some food in my bag.”

“Sure thing, doll.” He squatted down and clapped his hands, calling for the mellow dog to make his way over.          

Walking into the chapel she tried to take stock of the bloody mess. “Jesus,” she murmured, Juice flashed her a nervous smile from his position leaning against the table. Speaking louder she said “Hi, Cameron, was it? I’m Dr. Oline, I’m going to patch you up, okay?”

Hayes groaned, lifting his head from the table. “Aye.” She dug through her tool box pulling what she needed and laying it out on a drape before gloving up. “Do ya have any Irish in ya, Doc?”

Handing a pair of gloves to Chibs, she laughed, _of course he would be thinking about that right now, fucking IRA wack job._ “A little on my mother’s side, but I’m mostly Norwegian.”

She guesstimated the man’s weight and drew up tranquilizer she knew was also used on humans from vial, calculating the dosage in her head. “Hold still, okay? I’m going to give you the good stuff before I go digging around in your ass.” She stabbed the needle home before he could protest.

Waiting for the drug to take effect she went over the game plan. “Okay then, Filip grab that sponge, on the count of three Juice is going to pull his fingers out and you’re going to jam the sponge in while I clamp shit off.” She looked at them both for confirmation that they had understood. “One. Two. Three.” They moved in one fluid motion, the ark of blood cut off by the clamp.

Finally free Juice wiggled his cramping fingers and watched Pixie work over her shoulder. “Can I go wash my hands now?” The Irishman’s blood was congealing between his fingers and making them stick together.

Pixie leaned back to kiss his cheek, “Good job, Babyboy, you kept him from bleeding out, go have a victory drink.” He bounced from the room like an excited puppy.  

Chibs rewarded her with a crooked grin, “No’ bad for an animal doctor.”

Hayes head flew up of the table, bleary eyes trying to focus. “Wha’ did ya say, Scotsman? She’s an animal doctor?”

Snorting in response, Pixie worked to close the first wound up. _One down, one to go_.

The second slug came out smoothly and the closing was much easier. Finishing up her last stitch, she grabbed the vial of antibiotics she had set aside, reconstituting and drawing it up she injected it through the port on his IV line.

“I’m giving him a dose of antibiotic, but he still needs to get a prescription for something stronger and some pain meds.” She wrapped the bloody instruments in a towel and then placed them inside a plastic bag, she could scrub them at home but she’d have to wait until the new autoclave got delivered before they could be sterilized again.     

 Finally done, she left the Irishman in the hands of Chibs and Half-Sack to be transported wherever they were taking him. She stalked behind the weapon covered bar and poured herself a stiff drink. Gemma walked up beside her and patted her on the shoulder.

“Good job, sweetheart, you did good keeping the Irishman alive.” Gemma shot a glare over at Jax who was parked in the corner of the room, a florescent orange first aid kit in front of him. “You should stay for the party tonight, I’m sure Chibby would like the opportunity to say thank you.” It was not a suggestion.

She looked over at Hen draped over Tig’s lap on the checkered sofa, guess they were staying then.

\----

The clubhouse was a flurry of activity as more and more bikes pulled onto the lot. All of the croweaters were hard at work organizing meals and running drinks back and forth. Much to Pixie’s eternal frustration, Janet and Candy were among their number. Shooting her glares and turning their noses up at her whenever they walked by, they seemed to be on a mission to mess with her.

Gemma knocked her out of her contemplation, “You know, if those dumb bitches are giving you trouble you need to put them in their place.” Pixie pursed her lips at the thought, if they came after her she’d deal with it but she wasn’t about to respond to their catty bullshit without just cause. “Now take this beer to Chibs, he and the prospect just got back.”

She curtsied, taking the bottle and replying with a cheeky “All hail the Queen.” Gemma flipped her off.

It was dark outside, but the rowdy crowd was lit by the patio lights and glow of half a dozen fires. Hennessy was still glued to Tig’s side eating bits of burger patty the tall biker snuck him. She found Chibs walking away from one of the picnic tables filled with the rest of the guys. He put his arm around her waist, hooking a finger onto a belt loop when he reached her and taking the cold beer gratefully.  

Taking a long pull, he led her over to an unoccupied two-seater couch, throwing his tired body down. She looked ethereal in the flickering light of the fire, her gently curling blond hair almost brunet in the weak light. His fingers were itching to touch it.

Jokingly, she threw her boot-clad feet across his lap, reaching into his pocket to snag his pack of Marlboros and lighter. “So, how’s our favorite patient?” She took a deep drag before passing him back the pack and lighter.

He chucked, wrapping one hand around her ankle and taking the cigarette when she offered it to him with the other. “He’s good, all settled into his new home.” He paused, turning more serious, “Ya did us a big favour today, lass, wan’ ya ta know I appreciated it.”

She tried to lighten the mood, “Well, let’s keep this little favour on the down low, a girl could lose her licence doing crazy shit like that.”

 His hand settled above her knee and hers slid down to meet it, using it as leverage to pull her upper body into his. Swinging her legs down, she grasped his chin turning him towards her. “This club is my brother’s family and fast on the way to becoming mine, how could I not be there when you needed me?” She was on the verge of spilling everything she’d been feeling since the night in front of her house, but his lips crashing into hers cut her off.

His lips were chapped and his facial hair tickled as he adjusted the angle. The wet, delicious slide of his tongue made her hand clench in his before letting it go. She broke away, surging up and settling above him before deepening the kiss. His freed hand settled on her hip, pushing her down into his lap as she nipped at his bottom lip.

Pressing is forehead to hers, he closed his eyes he panted, bursts of warm air ghosting across her lips. Reaching his up to tuck a stray curl behind her ear, he cupped the back of her head and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “Come wi’ me, love, wan’ ta show ya somethin,” he whispered, sliding out from under her.

She took the cigarette back, but he kept her hand, fingers woven with his. _Please let it be the inside of his dorm room_.

It was not the inside of his dorm. He led her up to the roof, pulling her down to sit on a raised platform that let them overlook the entire TM property. His guts churned uncomfortably as he tried to come up with the right words.      

“I wan’ ta tell you ‘bout me, lass, ‘bout my past, before this goes any further. Ya deserve to know.”

 _That sounded ominous_ , she thought leaning her shoulder into his. “Tell me, Filip, it won’t change this.” She hoped.

He sighed and continued, “Ya know I was IRA?” he looked to her for confirmation. “There was a man, Jimmy O, who was high up, he hated me, hated wha’ I had.” He paused, gathering is courage, “my wife was third generation IRA and I was jus’ some dumb Scot from the slums o’ Glasgow.”

He tried not to look at her face. “When my daughter, Kerrianne, was three he cornered me in an alley, accusing me o’ not bein’ loyal ta the cause. He gave me these scars and excommunicated me, taking my wife and daughter as his own.” Her hand settled over his clenched fist and the act nearly broke him.

He took a few deep breaths. “Ta Fiona, the cause is everythin’ and Jimmy O had too much pull fer her to fight it without bein’ excommunicated herself.” He wrapped his hand around her smaller one. “It’s been over a decade since I saw either o’ them. I love my daughter, with all my heart, but Fi made her choice and it wasn’t me.” He braved a look at her face; she was calm, staring off into the night.

The word wife felt landed like a physical blow and Pixie fought to keep her expression one of pleasant neutrality. His explanation of their estranged relationship lessened the effect somewhat but she had to ask, “Do you still love her?”

He gathered his thoughts. “I’ll always love her as the mother o’ my child, but I’m no’ in love with her anymore.” He felt relieved that she hadn’t stormed off the roof, a tiny seed of hope grew in him, maybe she would understand and forgive him for not telling her sooner. “I’m still married to her on paper though, she’s a devout catholic so divorce isna’ part of her vocabulary.”

The silence dragged for a moment before she spoke. “Thank you for being honest with me.” He looked like he was bracing for the letdown, so she knelt in front of him and cradled his jaw with both hands.

“You’re not what I expected, Filip Telford, and you’ve been working your way under my skin since the day I got here.” She kissed his downturned lips. “Whatever this is between us, I want it, I want to try.” She kissed him again and this time he responded, crushing her to his chest. Coming up for air his head dropped to the crook of her neck. Her fingers carded through his hair as they both caught their breath.

“I need you to understand one thing though.” Her tone was dead serious and he lifted his head to meet her gaze. “If you want more that a quick fuck whenever we’re both in the mood, I refuse to accept anything less than monogamy.” It was a deal breaker for her, she couldn’t let herself become any more emotionally invested if he was going to sleep with other woman.

Grinning wide and toothy he pulled her up to sit across his lap. “I wan’ it all, love.” Her smiled matched his when she tipped her head back to kiss him again.

She could barely keep her eyes open when the party started to die down, still cradled in Filip’s lap. She worried that she was cutting off the circulation in his legs. They’d stayed on the roof talking about the lighter parts of their pasts and necking tenderly in the flickering light like teenagers, at some point they must have dozed off.

She patted his chest, “Come on, babe, we need to go find my poor dog and get you tucked into bed.”

He groaned deep and gravely in protest as she shuffled off his lap. Dragging his feet with every step he followed her back to his dorm to find Hennessy already snoring like a freight train from his nest of old throw blankets on the floor.

Laughing softly Pixie made a mental note to thank Tig in the morning. Her tired little fur-baby, wagged his stubby tail a few times to acknowledge their presence before going back to sleep.

Peeling back the covers on his double bed she sent out a silent thank you to Gemma for having the foresight to put fresh sheets on all of the beds. She sat down on the edge and unzipped her boots before standing to peel off her jeans and bra, deciding to leave the shirt on when a rush of modesty hit her.

She heard Chibs land on the bed with a small hop and hurried to join him under the covers before she fell asleep on her feet. Down to his boxers, his skin was wonderfully warm under her hands. Stealing one last kiss from his lips she turned off the light and rolled onto her side, his arm tucked underneath her pillow.

He followed her motion, rolling to his side and pulling her back into his chest. He huffed at the feel of her shirt, sliding a callused palm underneath it to rest against the thin skin just below her breasts.

Eyes sliding closed Pixie barely registered the soft kiss he pressed to the nape of her neck before she lost her battle with sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing but the OCs, Happy New Year everyone!

The bed was a lovely warm cocoon in the early morning light and Pixie contemplated pulling the covers up over their heads and going back to sleep. The growling in her stomach and the wet nose that shoved itself into her hand threw a wrench in those plans.

She wiggled out from under Chibs’ limbs as carefully as she could, trying not to wake the slumbering man. The arm that looped back around her as she sat up told her she failed. She twisted around and leaned down to kiss the laugh lines at the corner of his eye. No way was she bringing her fuzzy feeling mouth anywhere near his lips.

“Go back to sleep, babe, I’ve got to let Hen out for a pee before he bursts. I’ll bring us both back some breakfast if I can.” The arm slowly retracted at the promise of food.

Hooking her cold bra together with a grimace, Pixie zipped up the black sweater Chibs had worn the night before and fought her jeans back on her legs. Forgoing her boots she headed down the hall and tried to keep up with her dog as he made a break for the front door of the clubhouse.  

There were bodies everywhere in the main room, leaning over the bar, draped across the couches, everywhere. She ground to a halt walking past the pool table when she spotted her half naked brother wrapped around a fully naked croweater. Shaking her head she preceded out the front door, she didn’t want to know.

The sun was blinding coming from the dim interior of the clubhouse. Pixie shielded her eyes and pulled a piece of gum out of her back pocket while Hennessy picked out a grassy strip along the fence to do his business. Done, he circled back to lean against her legs.

They headed back in through the clubhouse to the small kitchen to grab some breakfast. “Good morning, sunshine,” came from somewhere behind her.

Jumping, she turned to see Gemma sitting on a stool by the sink. “Holy fuck, you nearly gave me a heart attack.” Her hands were clutched to her chest while Gemma just smiled deviously.

“So how was the party? Saw you getting awful cozy with Chibby…” Her lips were twisted in a self-satisfied little grin.

Snagging two paper plates and some plastic forks, Pixie turned her back on Gemma to cut two generous squares of breakfast casserole. There was no use fighting it. She ditched the gum and turned around to lean back against the cabinets. Shrugging, she gave Gemma the basics. “We talked about shit, he got some stuff off his chest and we went to sleep.”

“It ain’t never _that_ simple, darling.” It was way too early for tangoing with the queen bee.

“Uh huh,” she replied noncommittally scooping up the plates. “How about you give it more than eight hours before you grill me for the juicy details?”

Gemma’s voice carried down the hall as she headed back to the dorm room. “I’ll hold you to that, sweetheart!”

There was a dark haired woman moving in the opposite direction when Pixie reached the dorms, she turned and did a double-take. _Is that the pediatric surgeon doing the walk of shame?_

Laughing, Pixie let herself and Hennessy into the room. Hen curled back up in his nest and she made her way back to the bed, setting the plates on the nightstand.

Chibs was sprawled out face down on his stomach like a starfish, limbs in all directions. His face emerged from the pillow it was squished in at the sound of her entering. Eyes blurry, he smiled tiredly when he noticed the sweater she was wearing. Even rocking bedhead and borrowed cloths she was gorgeous to him.

She left her jeans and the sweater in a puddle on the floor and climbed back into bed. She kissed the corner of his lips before rolling over to be the little spoon. In the quiet of the dimly lit room she whispered “Brought us some breakfast, we should eat it while it’s hot.” His only response was to pull her in tight to his chest and tuck his hand back under her shirt.

She shoved her ice cold feet against his deliciously warm legs, enjoying his surprised hiss immensely. He growled from deep in his chest before diving at her neck nipping and pressing open mouth kisses to the sensitive bend. His large, work-roughened hand was riding low on her hip. She couldn’t hold back a breathy moan as he left burning trails in his wake.

Experimentally, she ground her hips back to discover he was achingly hard against her ass. He hand slid off of her hip to press low against her belly, fingering at the elastic of her soft teal thong. She slid her hand down to cover his, pushing the heel of his hand more strongly into the soft spot just above her pubic symphysis. Feeling the accompanying rush of wetness she maneuvered his fingers underneath the elastic.

He caressed the small triangle of curls he found there for a moment before she impatiently pushed his hand further south. Her other hand flew to her mouth in an attempt to muffle the needy sounds that escaped her when his thick fingers circled her clit. He used the arm pinned under her head to pry her hand from her mouth, lacing their fingers together.

His fingers dipped into her liquid core, sliding back up to tease the source of her aching. Desperately, she craned her neck back and sought out his mouth to stifle her keening. She could feel the heavy weight starting to build, making her toes clench as she fought the instinct to press her thighs together.

Chests heaving, their lips detached. She was so close to the edge, the emptiness in her core became unbearable. She cursed softly as the pressure grew stronger. _Screw it!_

She broke from his hold to roll flat on her back, nails digging into his bare shoulders as she dragged his bulk on top of her. “Need you,” she couldn’t tell how loud she said it with all of the blood rushing past her ears but he seemed to get the message, jumping into action.

He stretched to pull a foil packet from the nightstand, pushing his boxers down and ripping open the gold square with his teeth.

She snuck a look as she squirmed the thong down her legs. The blunt, uncut head was a deep ruddy colour as he rolled the condom down. He wasn’t overly long, but thick, her core clenched sharply, he was so thick her fingers wouldn’t be able to wrap around him fully.

 _Fuuuuuck._ She threw her head back as he guided himself into her. The burning stretch to accommodate him almost pushed her over the edge. Sliding her knees up to clamp onto his side, she dragged him down for a kiss, uncaring of the sloppy, wet noises they were making as he began to thrust.

“So fucking perfect, babe,” she groaned, digging her nails harder into his back.

His head dropped to her collarbone, mouthing at it while an incomprehensible stream of Gaelic poured from him.

The pressure was building in her again, taking her higher and higher with every snap of his hips. When he ground himself into her at the peak of the next thrust she lost it. She screwed her eyes shut and gasped, spasming around him.

“Jesus Christ!” He cursed loudly, canting his hips hard as her walls rippled, she was burning up around him. When she called out his name he knew he was a goner, exploding into the condom while her body milked him dry.

He collapsed on to her, head buzzing and panting harshly. Her fingers ran over his scalp before caressing his overheated forehead tenderly. Slowly coming back to reality he moved to roll off of her, afraid he was crushing her, but her partially bent knees blocked the action.

She loved the solid weight of him, the feel of his hot breath skating over her chest. She smiled when she realized that in their haste her shirt and bra had stayed on. Continuing to pet his head, she closed her eyes and luxuriated in the post orgasmic haze.

Cooling down, he pressed his lips to her collarbone one last time before rising up to pull out of her. He tossed the condom in a small waste bin tucked beside the nightstand and dropped back down beside her, tossing a disgruntled look at her attire.

Her smile was soft as she sat up to peel off the shirt and bra, throwing them in the general direction of her other clothes. She pulled the covers back up and nestled into Chibs’ side with a contented sigh. The casserole was cold when they got around to eating it.

\----

Pixie let the warm water beat on her back as she scrubbed her body vigorously. She had run home to get cleaned up before her and Chibs went to dinner, an actual date. She arched her back, pleasantly sore, it had been almost two years since the last time she had sex so it was no wonder she was a bit tender.

She had to admit she was sort of nervous about their date. There had been so much anticipation, so much build up between them, now that the sexual tension had been broken it was intimidating to think of how much they didn’t know about one another.

Stepping out of the shower she looked at herself in the mirror, a dark splotch resting over her collarbone stood out against her pale skin. _Cheeky bastard left a hickey,_ she smiled to herself, for such a tough biker he truly did behave like a teenage boy sometimes. They all did.

She picked out a pair of skinny olive colored pants and a flowing white button down that draped asymmetrically around her hips. Twirling in a light spritz of rose perfume she looked over her shoes, it felt like a good day for brown leather booties. Besides, she could use all the height she could get with him. Hearing him knock she grabbed her purse and headed for the door, waving goodbye to a slumbering Hennessy.

He looked decidedly polished in new jeans and a crisp white long sleeve underneath his kutte as he stood at her doorstep. She tilted her head back to touch her lips to his, inhaling the scent of Old Spice and something uniquely Chibs.

“Hey handsome,” she said sincerely. The way his eyes darted to the side told her that her man needed a serious ego boost, he was clueless of his effect on her.

“Hallo love, ready ta go?” That little side-step was not going to fly with her, no siree!

“Almost, come here for a sec.” He followed her just inside the doorway.

Moving quickly, she shoved him up against the wall next to the door and slammed her lips against his. Off balance, his hands flew up to grab at her waist before he responded in kind. It was a brutal and passionate scramble for dominance until Pixie pulled back. Letting him see her swollen lips and glassy eyes she said “Okay, now I’m ready.”

They rode through the Californian countryside enjoying the wide open road and the roar of the engine underneath them. Pulling up to a small diner, Chibs helped her off the bike, keeping her hand in the crook of his elbow. They sat in a little booth near the back, laughing at their varied tastes.

“Ewwww, tomatoes are gross!” Pixie scrunched up her nose.

“Tomatoes are an essential part of burgers and sandwiches, what’s gross is tha’ tofu shite Sack loves” He joked back at her.

“Tofu isn’t so bad, just really bland. It’s bananas I absolutely can’t stand, the texture kills me.” If felt nice to be able to just talk, no interruptions, no club shit-storm.

“Never really ate them back home, Ma used to put apples in my lunch box, I’d always try to pawn them off on some other kid fer a bag o’ crisps.”

She raised an eyebrow, “Little Filip Telford, the school yard bully?”

He grinned unashamed, “Naw, love, jus’ making a trade was all.”

“Well, unlike you I was a good girl, kept my nose clean, focused on my studies,” she was stretching the truth, a lot.

“Tha’ is no’ what yer brother says…” He was far too smug for Pixie’s liking.

“That little snitch!” She groused. He tipped his head back and laughed at her expression, Juicy boy was going to catch hell when she saw him next and Chibs almost felt bad for him.

Their food arrived and Pixie ate a few fries before continuing. “So maybe I got into a few cat fights in my wild youth, they were mostly about that little idiot anyways.”

“Boy says you took a chunk o’ rebar to an older kid ‘cause he came after him, s’a little more than a cat fight.” He liked hearing about her past, it never ceased to surprise him just how fierce she could be.

“Allegedly.” She flashed Chibs a playful glare over her barbeque burger, “Juice was my brother from the moment Tia first brought me into her home, I loved him, swore to protect him. Queens…Queens was not a gentle place to grow up and Juice was a sensitive boy, still is in a lot of ways. I did everything I could to keep him safe, even when I was gone.” She faked a smile, some shit just wasn’t ready to see the light of day.

Chibs studied the shuttered look in her eyes, wondering what memory had put that look on her face. “Juice said he was run out o’ Queens before making his way ta Cali?”

She took a sip of diet coke before answering. “Ya, he did some stupid hacker crap that got him in a boatload of trouble. I was in school at the time. He called me one night out of the blue, freaking out. I wired him some money and gave him the name of a friend in Tacoma so he could get his ass out of there before he wound up with a bullet in his brain.” That call had scared years off of her life, it was all she could do to keep from packing her bags and finding him.

“He can never step foot in Queens again, damn near broke Tia’s heart, but he was safe and that was all that mattered to me. I was going to go meet him at my friend’s place, but he convinced me to stay put and finish the semester before vising.” Big idiot with his even bigger heart.           

Chibs wasn’t sure how to respond, so he tried to reciprocate. “When Jimmy O excommunicated me, it was the Belfast charter tha’ took care o’ me, kept me alive until I could transfer ta SAMCROW.” He smiled when she reached across the table to take his hand. “It was yer brother tha’ helped me heal. He made me keep ma wounds clean, eat, drink somethin’ other than whiskey. I love him for tha’, always will.”

“He is a big hearted son of a bitch, isn’t he?” the grin on her face was genuine this time.

Chibs raised her hand to kiss her knuckles. “Aye, tha’ he is, love, tha’ he is.”

Finishing up, they drove out to a secluded spot on the edge of Charming and sat underneath an old redwood, watching the sun go down. Pixie let her head rest back on Chibs’ shoulder from her position between his legs.

“This spot reminds me of my grandparent’s property. I used to take sunset drives with my grandpa all the time. That’s why I kept the POS,” she reminisced.

“When Kerrianne was a baby she had a hard time fallin’ asleep, so I used ta sit with her in my arms on the tiny little balcony our flat had, watching the sun set.” Those were some of the fondest memories he had of Belfast, his baby in his arms, family whole and intact.

“Bet she was a beautiful baby…” The idea of Chibs rocking a baby to sleep melted her. He had such a tender heart when it came to family.

Chibs fished his wallet out and flipped it open, passing it to Pixie. The small photo was of a serious looking toddler with dark curling hair and a frilly blue dress. Turning around Pixie held the picture next to Chibs’ face and assessed their likeness.

Grinning she told him, “she definitely has your jawline and your frown. She’s beautiful, Filip.” She pressed her lips to his.  

“Aye, she is and I miss her every goddamn day, but Jimmy O’d never allow me ta contact her.” He seemed so resigned to his fate, to never seeing his daughter again.

She kissed him again and tilted his chin up so his eyes would meet hers and laid a hand over the spot he had his daughter’s name tattooed. “You’re her father, loving you is in her DNA. Someday she’s going to seek you out. Trust me, shit like this has a way of coming full circle.” She sat back down, leaning her weight on him. “Someday Jimmy O will get what’s coming to him, he can’t outrun the reaper forever, eventually the weight of his deeds with bury him.”

He kissed the back of her head, warmth filling him. She spoke with so much conviction, he couldn’t help but believe her assurances. Maybe there was a future where Jimmy O was dead and gone, and he was free to hold his baby again. He smiled into her hair, she would be right there with him, pissing on Jimmy’s grave and loving Kerrianne in the same breath.

“You know, this date was like my high school dream.” At his enquiring sound she continued, “Being picked up by a ruggedly handsome bad boy on a motorcycle, eating in a cute little diner, watching the sun set. All that this picture needs is our initials carved into a tree and its freshman year all over again.” She chuckled at the thought of a teenage Filip trying to woo her, holding a boom box outside her window.

Chibs smirked, “I can fix tha’ love, don’ ya worry.” When they pulled away the redwood tree had a new decoration.

\----

It was a busy day at the clinic site, electricians and plumbers were roughing things in now that most of the big stuff had been accomplished. It felt like the end was finally in sight and she couldn’t wait to actually start working again.

A shiny silver car rolled up and a leggy red head in a pantsuit stepped out. She had fed written all over her. “Pixie Oline?”

She raised an eyebrow. “It’s Doctor Oline. You must be ATF.” With Gemma and Cherry both being harassed she had been expecting this.

Her smile was cold and calculating. “Agent Stahl. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions about the Sons of Anarchy?”

She matched the agent’s smile. “You can ask, but there really isn’t anything to tell.”

“Are you aware of an illegal activities perpetrated by Juan Carlos Oritz or Filip Telford?” Right to the point then, Pixie rolled her eyes.

“Nope.” She popped the p. “My brother and his friend are mechanics and Harley enthusiasts, they do their best to keep their noses clean.”

“Right.” The blatant sarcasm was dancing all over Pixie’s last nerve. “You’re no stranger to violent men, are you Doctor? First your daddy and his friends, then the boyfriend at Cornell, and now a biker gang, that’s quite the track record. Hopefully this time you won’t wind up in the hospital.”

 _Smug fucking bitch!_ Pixie was fuming, but she kept herself detached from it. “You know, if we’re talking history, I have to admit that I know a little bit about you too, Agent.” Stahl threw her a dark look, but tried to appear open and curious.

“You graduated from the academy middle of your class, fairly unimpressive marks. Your superiors thought you were too much of a loose cannon, but Daddy pulled some strings and had your psych eval buried.” She flashed Stahl a mocking glance, her lips pursed.

“You climbed the ladder slowly, too slow for your liking and your father’s, so you made a few strategic choices about who you spread your legs for. Got you a leg up, but it didn’t do anything for your reputation, so now you’re here, trying to prove that you’re actually worth more than your cunt and your Daddy’s money.”

The agent slid her sunglasses on, nose wrinkling in rage. “Good afternoon, Doctor.” She stomped her spike heels back to her flashy car.

Pixie turned to one of the contractors. “Give me a call if you guys need anything, Mike has a key to lock up.” She was going to take a trip to the clubhouse and see what was going on, she whistled for Hennessy.

The chapel door opened just as she arrived and Chibs made his way over to her at the corner of the bar. “Hey, love, how’s the clinic commin’?” He wrapped an arm around her, kissing her forehead.

“Good, got plumbing and electrical guys there right now. What’s all the fuss over here?” Having everyone gathered in the clubhouse usually meant some sort of shit was going down.

“Jus’ ATF stuff, we’re plannin’ on moving Cammie Hayes later today.” His fingers traced the outline of a rose on her upper arm.

“Uh hun, I had the pleasure of meeting little miss ATF this morning, she’s a nasty piece of work.”

“Shite! Sorry, love. What was she pressin’ ya fer?”

She rolled her eyes. “She wasn’t really pressing so much as warning me the dangers of getting into bed with outlaws. We took a little trip down memory lane, I told her to go fuck herself, we’re practically BFFs.”

Chibs chuckled, it was a shame there were no security cameras in the clinic yet, he would have loved to be privy to the dressing down he was sure she gave the ATF bitch.

Leaning against Chibs, she jumped when a familiar face entered the clubhouse. “Happy-fucking-Lowman!” She took a few steps forward, opening her arms.

His deep, booming voice echoed in the wide open room. “PIXIE!” He picked her up under her arms and lifted her above his head before dropping her down for a bone crushing hug. Setting her back down on the ground he rolled up her sleeve and ran his eyes appraisingly over her ink. “You’re taking good care of it.” He nodded his tattooed head in approval.

“I spent enough money on it, of course I going to take care of it! Besides, I know you’d hunt me down and skin me for so much as going outside without sunscreen on it.” She jokingly punched his shoulder, it was the truth, he would peel the ink off of her before he’d let her ruin his hard work.

Chibs watched their interaction intently. The Tacoma Killer was not a man to be trifled with, and he certainly didn’t joke around with women. A strange feeling was welling up inside of him, he wanted to insert himself between them and show his brother that Pixie was his. He settled for looping an arm back around her waist and tried to squash the urge to steal her away.

Sticking his chin out in a gesture of hello to his brother he asked, “So how do you two know each other then, love?”

Pixie could hear the jealous undertones in his voice, feel the possessive weight of his arm. She put a hand to his chest to placate him. “Remember the friend I was telling you about, the one I sent Juice to? Happy gave me my very first tattoo out of this shitty little shop he was working at. One tattoo turned into a half sleeve, which turned into a three quarter sleeve, any time I’d visit, I’d wind up with new ink. I had no idea what his reaper tat meant until years later when he introduced Juice to Jax and Juice started talking about prospecting.”

“I told you you’d thank me later.” He said those exact words when she flipped out on him for getting her brother involved with the MC. Flipping out may have involved throwing a bookend or two at his head.

“Know it all.” She stuck her tongue out at him, putting her hand over top of Chibs’ on her hip.

He smacked Chibs on the arm, “Good luck brother, she’s a crazy ass bitch.” It was funny how he could always make the word bitch sound like a compliment. Pointing a finger at Pixie he added, “Anyone else does your crow, I’ll kill ‘em.” He stalked over to Clay, scooping Hennessy up off the floor like he was some tiny purse dog.

Smirking at Happy’s propensity for dramatic exits she tipped her head back to kiss the frown from Chibs’ face. “I do believe you just received the Happy Lowman seal of approval, babe.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing but the OCs, thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings!

The day started out like any other. Pixie rose with her alarm, stretched and put on her runners. She kissed the top of Juice’s head as she walked past the sofa he had crashed on, unwilling to walk the extra few blocks to his place. She and Hennessey begrudgingly ran their route before coming home and starting on breakfast.

Mixing eggs in a bowl, she fried up two omelettes, setting one on the table in front of Juice along with two Advil and a neon colored sports drink. “Good morning starshine, the earth says hello” she whispered to him.

He groaned and rolled over to face away from her. “If you don’t get up and eat that omelette soon Hen will eat it for you” she warned, shaking her head as she headed for the shower. She wanted to look her best today, Abel was finally coming home.

She talked on the phone to her general contractor for a few minutes to get updates on the clinic’s progress before calling Gemma to see what she could bring to the party. The queen bee had been a bit out of sorts since Jax’s junkie ex showed up and now with Bobby in jail Pixie wanted to help take some of the stress off of her shoulders.

Her cell rang as she was driving to the grocery store. “Hey, babe, how’re you feeling this morning?” She snickered to herself, if he kept pace with Juice last night it wasn’t going to be pretty.  

“Hey love, feel alrigh, how’s Juicy boy?” His voice was deep and raspy, accent thick. He had probably just gotten up.

“Still passed out on my couch. I’m just grabbing some stuff for the party, you need me to pick you up anything while I’m here?” She parked the POS and grabbed a buggy.

She could hear the rustling of sheets in the background. “Nah, I’m all stocked up. Jus wanted ta see wha time yer heading over ta Jax’s.”

She smiled, he’d started calling her in the morning whenever they spent the night apart to check in. “The party is supposed to start at six but I’m going to head over early to help Gemma get shit set up.” She threw a few bags of chips in the buggy. “Why don’t you come by my place in an hour and I’ll make you some breakfast? I’m sure Juice’s misery would love your company.” She loved seeing her boys together, especially now that Juice had given up on trying to ward off Chibs.

“Aye, anything is better than the healthy shite Sack makes, I’ll be there.” His aversion to anything that hinted at being health was sort of endearing to her, a bit like a kid trying to feed his broccoli to the dog.

“See you soon, babe.” She got in line for the register, grabbing a few packs of gum.

He was waiting for her in the driveway and helped her carry the bags in before greeting her with a kiss. He was obviously freshly showered, hair still slightly damp and smelling strongly of Old Spice. His looked tired, probably from not going to bed until the wee hours of the morning.

“Do you want bacon and eggs? I’m sure Juice is ready for his second breakfast by now.” She narrowed her eyes at the empty plate on the coffee table in front of a still slumbering Juice.

“You’re a wonder, love.” He trailed after her to the kitchen as she pulled out a frying pan, a package of bacon and more eggs. She started on the bacon first before making a pot of coffee.

Watching her flipping the strips to achieve maximum crispiness, Chibs came up behind her. Circling his arms around her, he rested his cheek against the top of her head and closed his eyes. They started swaying slightly, lulled by the quiet of the house.  

She set the bacon on a piece of paper towel when it was done and got to work on the eggs, easy over for Chibs and scrambled for Juice. The smell of home cooking attracted the mohawked biker to the small round table dividing the kitchen and living room. He still looked a little green under his tan, but sitting upright was a marked improvement.

Chibs carried over the bacon and slid into the chair next to Juice, patting his brother on the back as he slumped over the table. Pixie brought them both plates with their eggs before circling back for the coffee and a bottle of Irish cream liquor.

“Hair of the dog” she pronounced, “y’all need to be lively for Abel’s homecoming.” She grabbed a few pieces of bacon for herself and started to organize the things she needed to bring to the party.

“You’re the best,” Juice gave her a weak smile.

When they were finished they washed the dishes without prompting. Her boys were so civilized, she thought, giving them both a peck on the cheek when they came back for another round of coffee.

Feeling a bit steadier after two meals Juice left to walk back to the garage. Chibs stayed and pulled her away from the kitchen where she was fussing over a tray goodies.

“You were up so early this mornin, why don’t ya come lay down with me, love?” He kissed her softly walking backwards to her bedroom. They made love with languid slowness, falling asleep in a tangle of limbs.

It was almost three in the afternoon when Chibs woke up to stare at the ceiling. Waking up next to Pixie, he felt the most content he’d been in over a decade. It was amazing what her presence could do to his mood, how she altered his outlook. It was amazing, but also terrifying.

She moved him in ways that he hadn’t felt since Fiona and it was terrifying to think of going through the loss of it again. Gemma told him that he needed to have faith that the universe wouldn’t burn him twice, but he was already in deep and knew that he wouldn’t survive the loss a second time.    

Falling for Fiona had been a mad rush of adrenaline and passion, caught up in the IRA and SAMBEL. It wasn’t until Kerrianne was born that things between them became softer, more grounded.

With Pixie, that family feeling was already there and the passion he felt for her came from somewhere deep and trembling inside him. They were moving fast but it didn’t feel hurried, it felt like coming home and that scared the hell out of him more than anything else.

\----

Chibs pulled up to Jax’s house and was engulfed in the sights and sounds of family. His brothers were spread around the house, kids weaving between them laughing. Piney was trying to balance a drink on Kenny’s head, the cantankerous old bastard was even laying off the tequila for the event.

He spotted Pixie sitting on the arm of a sofa, talking animatedly with Donna. She looked like a dream in her long flowing skirt and jean jacket, wrists covered in silver and leather bracelets. She had more skin covered that all of the sweetbutts combined and was somehow twice as enticing. He dropped down on the couch beside her, not wanting to interrupt, and rested his arm behind her while he chatted with Tig.

When Donna left to help out with something in the kitchen Chibs hooked his arm around Pixie and pulled her backwards into his lap. She shrieked in surprise landing on her back across his legs with her head in Tig’s lap.

“Hey Tigger” she laughed breathlessly.

“Hey dollface.” He grinned lewdly at her, but his reply was lacking his usual innuendo.

Pixie sat up in Chibs’ lap and raised an eyebrow at him. “Ass. Didn’t you get enough this morning?” She brushed a gentle kiss over his lips but he depend it, parting his lips and pulling her into him. They pulled apart with a soft pop when Tig chimed in.

“Either let me join in or find your own couch” said the wild haired Son.

“Sorry hun, I don’t think he’s the sharing type” she winked at him jokingly from over her shoulder.

“Definitely no’ the sharin type” Chibs clarified giving Tig a steely eyed look.

The front door opened and Gemma, Jax and Wendy arrived with a swaddled Abel. The whole crowd cheered and clapped for the arrival of the newest member of the family. The men gathered around Jax, slapping him on the back and congratulating him, the women gathered around Gemma to coo at the baby.

There was a brief moment of drama when the pediatric surgeon, Tara, shoved her tongue down Jax’s throat and then stormed out after Jax pulled her aside to talk. Pixie tried not to stare at the obvious red handprint on Jax’s cheek.

Finally getting her turn Pixie gave Gemma a kiss on the cheek and said “Congrats Grandma” while stroking one of Abel’s tiny hands.

“Thanks hun” she replied and with a sly glance at Chibs who was trying to look like he wasn’t watching the interaction, transferred the little bundle to Pixie’s shocked arms. “Hold him for a sec sweetheart, I need a drink.”

Pixie smiled down at Abel’s sweet little face and rocked gently back and forth. Chibs watched her for a second before joining her, staring at the little boy from over her shoulder. She tipped her head back and the look on her face was so tender he couldn’t resist bringing his lips to hers.

“He’s beautiful” she cooed, turning to lean against Chibs’ chest.

“Aye, lass, he is” he replied. This feeling was achingly familiar to him, if he closed his eyes he could almost pretend this was the day he brought Kerrianne home. Maybe this was a sign, a reward for the long lonely years he had endured.

The phone rang and the sound of glass shattering cut through the din of the party.

\----

She lay in bed alone that night and the night that followed. Chibs was avoiding her, acting distant when she called. Club business he said, but she knew from talking to Juice that it wasn’t. She sighed and adjusted the black dress she was wearing and slid a pair of large sunglasses on before heading for the POS.

The procession was huge and loud, other charters sending representatives to ride with their brothers. Pixie took her place next to Juice and listed to the preacher talk about love and family. _Poor Ellie and Kenny_ , she thought watching the trembling shoulders of the little girl as she placed a carnation on her mother’s casket.

She noticed Jax stumble up with a split lip and felt a bright flush of anger at his disrespect. _Let Gemma deal with that_ , she hoped the matriarch would lay into him after the funeral for acting like a selfish prick.

After the ceremony, Pixie gave Opie and each of the kids a hug. The way Ellie wrapped herself in Pixie’s arms and cried broke her heart. She wiped the young girl’s eyes with a tissue and then lent her the sunglasses she was wearing with a promise to pick her up and have a girl’s day, just the two of them.

Chibs was waiting for her at the side of her truck. “Can we talk, lass?” His voice was cold, eyes hidden by his customary tinted shades.

She had an icy feeling in the pit of her stomach, she had a pretty good idea where this conversation was heading. She nodded her agreement and followed him a little ways from the truck. He stood there for a while seeming to be at a loss for words so Pixie started. “I haven’t seen you around much, Filip.”

He nodded his head. “Aye, sorry ‘bout tha’ but I think it’s time you and I faced reality.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “We live in two different worlds, lass, and this one is too dangerous for the likes o’ya.”

She felt anger welling up inside of her but fought to keep her voice level. “Too dangerous? Honey, I grew up in Queens, I know what this life is, I’ve lived it.” The blankness of his expression set her teeth on edge. “Whether or not you think I’m cut out for this, it is _my_ goddamn choice.”

He went for the jugular. “Yer a good lay, darlin, we had some fun, but now it’s time fer ya ta stop make believing it was more than tha and go back ta playin doctor.”

The rage was threatening to swallow her whole. “You’re a coward Filip Telford, a coward and a terrible liar” she bit out.

“No’ lying darlin, I got what I wanted, ya got yer bit o’ rough, and now we’re done.” He was digging himself deeper in a hole of his own making.

A dark and vindictive piece of her wanted to hit him, to smack the empty look right off of his face but remembering that Ellie was just a few hundred yards away gave her the strength to turn away and walk back to the POS.

Juice was waiting and pulled her into his chest the second she was in arms reach, cradling the back of her head. “Get me out of here, Juan, before I kick that asshole’s mirrors off” she whispered, deceptively calm.

He squeezed her tight and kissed the top of her head before opening the door and helping her up into the truck. “I’ll meet you at your place.” His tone told her not to protest, it wouldn’t change his mind.

When she drove off, Juice looked across the cemetery at his Scottish brother. He had heard Pixie call Chibs a coward and she was right, shithead was doing a runner in a futile attempt to shield himself from the pain Opie was experiencing. Juice looked Chibs in the eye and spat violently on the ground before hopping on his bike.

He stopped by the corner store close to Pixie’s to pick up some essentials before letting himself in to her rental. She was sitting on the couch with Hennessey in her lap, staring at the blank TV screen. _Shit_ , he thought holding up a bottle of Fireball and a bag of cinnamon hearts. “I brought supplies.”

She said “Thanks” but the flatness of her voice made him anxious. She was distancing herself, trying to compartmentalize it all. He needed to intervene before she locked it down completely under a wall of indifference. He set the bottle down with the plastic bag of other junk foods and stalked over to her hall closet.

She looked at him with curiosity as he tore through her linens, “What’re you doing?”

“Building a fort” was his tense reply. He ripped the quilt off of her bed and the throw blanket off the back of the couch. His movements were jerky and rough as he pulled the chairs out from the table and dragged them over to the living room.

He didn’t look at her, just kept working. A few minutes passed and unable to resist, she joined in and passed him hair elastics and clothes pins to join the blankets together. They stripped the cushions off the couch and pieced them together on the floor of the fort. Finished, they crawled inside with Hennessy and passed the bottle of Fireball back and forth.

“You haven’t built me one of these in a long time” she finally spoke, gesturing to the blanket fort. He didn’t reply, just took a drink and waited for her to keep going. “The last time was right after my parents died, remember?”

She manoeuvred herself to lay down tucked into his side. “I’m not going to cry over him, Juan, I refuse to waste tears on a coward” she said with false bravado.

Juice just passed her the bottle. “I’m so _fucking_ pissed that he did that! At a goddamn _funeral_ no less! If he wanted to end shit, fine, but he should’ve had the decency to own it, none of this ‘you’re not cut out for it’ bullshit!” She took a deep pull on the bottle going silent for a few minutes.

In a tentative voice she continued. “He cheapened it, Juan, cheapened what we had, told me I was making it up in my head.” Her voice warbled towards the end. “I know what he’s doing, why he’s doing it. I guess I just wanted to believe I was worth fighting for.”

Juice reached over and ran his hand up and down her back, and she broke. The tears started cutting burning trails down her cheeks, falling only to be soaked up by Juice’s black shirt. She didn’t make a sound, didn’t acknowledge it was happening, but she let her brother see some of her pain and that was enough for both of them.    

\----            

Chibs was pounding his way through the croweaters and the bar. He had Janet bent over the side of his bed, hammering home. He didn’t really give a damn how rough he was being, stupid bint had mouthed off to Pixie. Finished, he smacked her on the ass and told her to get out.

Coming home from the cemetery his brothers had steered clear of him, all except Tig who kept the drinks and the pussy coming.

She’d seen right through him, Pixie had, looked right through him when he tried to break it off. She’d called him a coward. He wasn’t a coward, it was for her own protection, she just didn’t understand that yet.

He sat back down next to Tig at the bar and had another drink. She’d be fine, she’d move on, finish her clinic, find a nice lad with a nine to five. It just wasn’t right to bring women into this life, wasn’t fair, and he could live on his own just fine, the last decade had proven that.

Things would settle down and go back to the way they used to be. In the meantime he would have himself another sweetbutt and drink until he felt numb.

\----

When she woke she was alone encased in walls of fabric. _That sneaky fucker,_ she thought, cursing her brother’s ability to pull shit out of her. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and shoved the empty bottle of fireball away from her.

Somewhere along the line Juice had read that spicy foods help with depression. In his mind cinnamon hearts and now fireball counted as spicy foods, so he insisted on feeding them to her whenever something bad happened. It was his version of preventative medicine, like giving someone vitamin C when they started to feel run down.

Crawling out of the fort, she cringed at the brightness of the room. Drinking the lion’s share of the bottle probably hadn’t been the best choice.

Juice had always known exactly what it would take to get her to pour her heart out. Sometimes he would pick a fight until she exploded, sometimes he would blast music so loud their ears would be ringing, and sometimes he would build her a sanctuary and be so painfully attentive that she wept until she was sick.

He really did have the biggest heart even if he was an underhanded troll sometimes, she cracked a smiled.

Still in her back dress and make up from yesterday she felt grimy, a hot shower would be the first order of business. Pink and prune-y she jumped out and got dressed in old workout clothes. She and Hen could jog to the clinic, put in some elbow grease and then grab dinner on the way home.  

The contractors were already at work when she got there, nodding hello to the guys she sought out Mike. They talked over some of the plans for the big built in desk at the front and the flooring they still needed to order.

Everything covered for the moment, Pixie headed to the back room that would serve as a break room for employees. It was almost done, they were just waiting on a counter top and the sink. She cracked open a can of taupe colored paint and grabbed a long handled roller, making sure Hennessy was lying down comfortably away from the walls. It was time to get to work.

The first coat was done and drying when Gemma wandered in, the cliquey-clack of her heels announcing her presence. She slid her sunglasses down her nose and looked Pixie up and down. “Just thought I’d stop by to see how the clinic was coming” she said nonchalantly.

 _Bullshit, you did_. “You sure you’re not here because you heard about what happed with Chibs and I?” Pixie queried, not feeling up to pussyfooting around.

Gemma made a noncommittal noise and pursed her lips. “You doing alright?”

“I’m fine, Juice stayed with me last night, I had my little pity party, it’s done” Pixie shrugged.

 Gemma raised an eyebrow and asked “You sure about that? ‘cause it sounds to me like you’re not done yet.”

Anger flashed white hot in Pixie’s gut. “What do you want, Gemma? A big scene at Donna’s funeral? Do you want me to go over there and smack him until he sees the error of his ways? No. I’m not going to be that girl.”

“Honey, what I want is for you to get off your high-horse and fight for him. He’s pushing you away ‘cause it’s the only thing he can come up with that keeps him from going through the same pain as Opie. You need to prove to him that he’s wrong, before he goes completely off the rails.” Gemma’s hands took up residence on her hips as she leaned forward to punctuate her point.

Pixie suddenly felt tired, like all the energy she had built up from working had been sucked out of her and replaced with a bone deep weariness. “I want to fight, I want to scream at him, I want to kick the mirrors off his bike for what he said, but I won’t give into that. He needs to figure out he’s wrong for himself because I’m not playing this game again.”

“It’s not a game honey, it’s your life.” Gemma gave her a short hug before continuing. “Just remember, you’re both hurting.” She kissed Pixie on the cheek before turning to go.  

It was dark by the time she and Hen picked up dinner from the Chinese place down the street. Pixie parked herself on the couch and binge-watched Fast and Furious movies, flipping out all of the lights for maximum effect.

She heard a Harley roar down the street and briefly thought it was Juice stopping by to check on her, but it continued on past her house without stopping. She pulled a throw blanket up to her chin and let her mind drift away to the sound of Vin Diesel’s voice.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing but the OCs, thank you to everyone who took the time to comment and/or hit the kudos button!

The days were blazing by as Pixie poured herself into the clinic and before she knew it three weeks had past almost without notice. With an end to the renovation in sight in the next month or so, she started to interview technicians and assistants from the surrounding areas.

Miranda, a plump single mother from Lodi was looking really promising. She was a no nonsense sort of person with a decade of experience as a tech working with large and small animals. Her experience would be invaluable to getting a new clinic off the ground and running.

The other gal she liked was a sweet young brunet named Julie. What she lacked in experience she more than made up for in enthusiasm. Her single, childfree status and student loans also meant that she was more than willing to stay late and work overtime if needed.

The only difficulty Pixie was having was in finding an assistant who could work reception and help out with holding and the thousand other tasks that required a knowledgeable pair of hands. Plenty of girls had come to her with some minor reception experience, but none with experience working in a vet clinic. The few who did have their VOA certificate didn’t seem to be looking to work more than one or two days a week. Pixie sighed, it was so much more work to train someone on the job and she needed someone who could handle themselves.

The stress was starting to get to her, but the one bright spot was spending time with Ellie and Kenny. Pixie tried to set aside one or two days a week where she would take one or both of the Winston children from Mary or Piney and go do something fun and distracting.

The other day she and Juice took the kids to see the Iron Man movie and then go-karting. They were dead tired when she drove them home and Mary said they slept like babies. That was part of Pixie’s objective, helping them drain energy until they were too tired not to sleep. Kenny seemed to be doing okay, not quite getting it just yet, but Ellie wasn’t sleeping, too plagued with nightmares.

Pixie knew all about nightmares. She knew that the best thing for them was to work until you had no energy left to dream. Poor Ellie. When her own parents died, it hadn’t been sad to Pixie, terrifying, gruesome, but not sad. It wasn’t until her grandparents passed that she understood the pain of losing a loved one, and even then they had lived long and happy lives. Ellie’s mother had been ripped away from her and it was going to leave a nasty scar, of that Pixie was sure.

She’d also been doing her best to avoid the clubhouse, only having to stop by once to stitch up Happy when he came by with a gash in his shoulder and refused Jax’s offer to call Tara. She knew not to ask questions, just patted the stoic man on the arm and froze him up without a fuss. For a nomad he seemed to have a pretty good grasp on what went down between her and Chibs, God bless the MC gossip mill, and told her that the next time he came to town he would bring his tattoo gun and he’d give her some new ink.

The other guys didn’t treat her any different, but she was still cautious about intruding on their space. It was Bobby’s coming home party tonight, but she declined the invitation, telling Gemma to give her love to the friendly Elvis impersonator. She planned to make him a nice batch of hash brownies as a welcome home gift that she could send with Juice. Pixie huffed out a laugh, she really wasn’t up to witnessing the graphic shenanigans that were sure to go down when Bobby started to make up for lost time.

Nope, her night was going to be nice and easy. Netflix was calling her name and she had a giant bag of kettle corn for just such an occasion. She settled in for the long haul and let Hen lay on the couch next to her.

\----

It was early morning when she got the call from Tara on Gemma’s cellphone saying there had been in an accident. Tara sounded tired, but calm so Pixie tried not to hype things up in her mind, if Gemma was coherent enough to complain about needing crowd control it couldn’t be _that_ bad. Pixie busted her ass down to St. Thomas going thirty over the speed limit and running two red lights.

She followed Tara’s directions to the exam room and knocked before slipping in. Gemma had her legs up in stirrups, Tara working between them with a speculum. Looking at Gemma’s beaten face, understanding struck Pixie, the gravity of it made her bow her head. Pixie moved around the bed to grasp Gemma’s hand, afraid she’s hurt the older woman if she tried to kiss her swollen cheek.

“Car accident, huh? What can I do to help?” she made sure to look Gemma in the eyes and not linger on the bruises or what was happening below the pink sheet.       

“Need you to deal with the boys when they show up, Wayne’s probably already notified them.” Gemma’s eyes narrowed at the thought of the old cop talking to anyone about what happened.

Pixie squeezed her hand and nodded. “I’ll tell them you hurt something in your pelvis and they need to run a few more tests. You know Clay’s going to want to see you.”

He voice was painfully small for the normally larger than life woman. “I know.”

She squeezed Gemma’s hand before heading for the waiting room. She found not just Clay and Jax, but all of the guys waiting for Gemma. Bobby was limp on top of a stretcher with Juice, Half Sack, and Chibs gathered around him. She couldn’t see Chibs’ eyes underneath his tinted sunglasses but they all looked haggard and hungover in the extreme.

Clay approached her when he spotted her moving towards them. “What’s going on? She okay?” His voice was deep and harried.

“She’s fine, Tara’s still working on her. She took a good knock to the face and the steering wheel hurt something in her pelvis, so she’s going to have to be careful for a while.” Pixie placed a hand on Clay’s massive bicep. “You can go in and say ‘hi’ but then she wants you all to go home, it’s going to be a while yet and there’s lady business afoot. The Queen doesn’t want to offend your delicate sensibilities” she addressed the last bit to the group of leather clad men listening in.

They cringed a bit and started to wheel Bobby back down the hall. Juice gave her a tentative smile and pressed a kiss to the side of her head as he reached her, partially shielding her from the Scot’s view as he moved past. She patted his arm, such a worry-wart was her brother.

The boys gone, she led Clay to Gemma’s room, announcing him before he entered. Pixie waited a moment before heading down to the cafeteria to grab a coffee. Things were going to shit in Charming and it was only going to get worse if someone had the gall to go after the first lady of SAMCROW. Carrying wasn’t going to be optional anymore, she decided, paying for her cup of Joe and wandering back up to the room Gemma was in. It was going to be a long fucking day.

\----

Testing finished, Gemma insisted on going to Jax’s to watch Abel for the rest of the day. Pixie drove her there and helped her get comfortable in the padded blue gliding rocker in Abel’s room. She offered to stay and sit with Gemma, but the older woman waved her away dismissively.

Gemma moved like everything hurt, and it probably did, but it was her subdued and passive behaviour that made Pixie truly worry. The older woman wasn’t the type to want to talk about the bad shit, and neither was she, but Pixie knew from personal experience that Gemma wasn’t going to be able to sweep this one under the rug. That sort of stuff ran too deep and affected you too much to be buried.

Pixie gave her a gentle hug before leaving. “Anything you need, anything at all, give me a call.” Gemma tried to crack a smile.

A tentative “Thanks” was her only reply.

Climbing into the POS, Pixie rested her head against the steering wheel and took slow deep breaths. It was happening all over again, only this time she was on the outside looking in. She swallowed thickly and leaned back in the driver’s seat. _He’s dead_ , she reminded herself, _Tyler is dead and you survived, so will Gemma_. She brushed away a stray tear and threw on some sunglasses. An Ambien margarita might be in order before bed.

The sun was going down when she made it home, the beautiful pink-orange light painting the walls of her small rental. Hennessy danced around her feet, his stubby tail wagging so hard it shook his whole back end.

She knelt down to card her fingers through his soft fur and peck him on the muzzle. Her sweet boy, at least he was happy to see her. Back at the hospital Chibs looked like he would rather have bamboo splinters shoved under his nails that be near her.

She sighed and started to strip her coat off. Neither of them were ‘let’s be friends’ sort of people, it was all or nothing for them and right now nothing was looking like it was going to win out. The cap popped off a bottle of beer and landed on the counter with a clatter.

Maybe it was for the best that they weren’t together, at least now she wouldn’t have to explain why she was suddenly so hypervigilant or felt the need to sleep with her 9mm in a holster screwed to her headboard.

She walked into her tiny bathroom and grabbed an old tampon box, removing two orange bottles from inside. She wouldn’t have to explain the pills either. She gave the bottles a shake, almost empty. In the junk drawer she dug out a business card for a Dr. Lich, maybe it was time to give her a call.

_Not right now_ , she decided tucking it back in the drawer, the timing wasn’t right. Following Hen out the back door, she sat down on the cheap plastic chair the last tenant left and pulled a cigarette out of her emergency stash. The burn of smoke in her lungs gave her a deep sense of satisfaction as she listened to Hen rustle around in the dark.           

\----

_This must be what going mad feels like_ , Chibs thought straddling his bike in front of Pixie’s house. Just like every night since the funeral, he’d had a few too many drinks at the clubhouse, let a sweetbutt suck him off and driven past her house. This was the first time he’d actually stopped though.

He was so confused, it felt like her absence had gutted him, flayed him open, but he’d done it for the greater good. He’d done it to protect her, he couldn’t understand why protecting her made him feel so wretched. His face wasn’t cut open this time, but it still felt like he was bleeding.

It was maddening to see her, but it was even more maddening not to. So, he was reduced to watching her from afar. Meeting her face to face at St. Thomas with the stink of other women still fresh made him want to hide from her. He shouldn’t feel ashamed to be living as he always had, but when she looked at him with her penetrating stare he couldn’t help it. She was turning him inside out.

It didn’t help that Juice was pissed at him, really and truly pissed. Chibs knew that given the slightest provocation his mohawked brother would come at him with all the anger and resentment he carried for the slight against his sister. It was supposed to be club before blood, but that was never the truth. Blood or not, family would always come first, its human nature.  

He jiggled his leg and forced himself to turn away. He had an early start tomorrow babysitting Luanne. Porn seemed like a good avenue of earning legitimate money for the club and it had the added bonus of keeping them all up to their eyeballs in pussy. He just wished that it did add fuel to the fire raging between Clay and Jax.

He heaved a sigh and started the engine, hopefully Pixie would stay blissfully unaware of the club’s latest business venture and be phased out by Tara as their go-to doctor. She didn’t need any more nonsense pulling her into the line of fire.

\----

The soft jazz music playing in the coffee shop was soothing on Pixie’s frazzled nerves. Her arms braced against the small square table, she cradled her cup of coffee and stared out the large window at the passers-by. Her chemically induced sleep had left her groggy and dazed in the morning, her limbs seemed to move at half speed. Her skin felt a size too small and the sensation of someone walking behind her on the sidewalk raised the hairs on the back of her neck.

Too wound up to be of much use at the clinic, she had walked down the block to find somewhere quite to sit and think for a while. The white noise of the bustling café did wonders for her ability to focus and relax a little.

Taking a swallow of the rich dark liquid she heaved a sigh as some of the tension in her shoulders melted away. Her quite moment was interrupted by the presence of khaki pants in her peripheral vision. Scanning upwards she took in the badge and geeky haircut. “Deputy Chief, how can I help you?”

He smiled, his large front teeth peeking out. “I just wanted to introduce myself, we haven’t net yet, I’m David Hale” he answered sticking out a hand and shaking hers when offered.

“Doctor Pixie Oline” she smiled in response, his grin was trying a little too hard, but it never hurt to be nice to the next Chief of Police.

“Mind if I join you?” he gestured to the seat on the other side of the table.

“By all means” she replied, not really meaning it, but wanting to be polite.

He took the seat, setting down his coffee and leaning forward, looking like an over eager puppy. “I hear you’re opening up a vet clinic down the street?”

“Yep, in the old bakery, it should be done in the next month or so. Will I be seeing you with any critters David?” The stuffy looking man didn’t seem like the type to risk getting hair on his uniform pants.

He shook his head “No, I had a dog growing up but the department keeps me busy enough as it is.” He took a sip of coffee before not-so-subtly changing the subject. “So, how are you finding Charming so far?”

“It’s been a much needed change of pace, I’m growing to love the small town feel. Have you lived here long?” She knew the answer already, but it most people didn’t want to know you’d asked around about them.

“All my life, you moved here from Seattle, right?” He was bouncing his knee nervously and Pixie had to hide a grin behind the rim of her mug.

“That’s right. You run a make on me for priors, Deputy Chief?” she asked in a joking tone.

The faint redness that rose up his neck and cheeks told her he had. “Just looking out for the welfare of Charming.” He seemed unsure how to continue without offending her, so he took another sip of coffee.

The roar of engines echoed down the street and drew Pixie’s attention away from David. She smiled as the boys made their way down the street in the direction of the club house, her brother in the middle of the pack.

“You should be careful around them, they’re dangerous men” the cop stated in a firm tone, brows furrowing.

Pixie fought down a derisive snort. “It’s a little late for that, considering one of them is my brother.” She took a finial swig of coffee and stood. “It’s been nice chatting with you David Hale, but I should really get back to the clinic. I’ll see you around.”

He stood up when she did. “You too” he offered, knowing that he was getting the brush off.

Walking back to the POS Pixie laughed at the awkward encounter with the future Chief of Charming PD. He seemed to mean well, but his high and mighty attitude towards her family set her teeth on edge.

She supposed that he was exactly the sort of man she should go after. He was educated, well connected, had a respectable profession and seemed like a nice guy, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t summon even an fraction of the lust she felt in the presence of Chibs. It was exasperating to know that even as incensed as she was with him, Filip Telford could still make her soaking wet in an instant.

She shook her head free of the thought of him. She had better things to do that ruminate over that Scottish pussy. Turing the radio up above the rattle of the old diesel, she hummed along with the crooning of some love-drunk cowboy in the empty cab and decided she was going to crawl back into bed and start the day over.

\----

Sprawled out on the plush couch at Cara Cara with a beer in hand and two buxom porn stars in his lap, Chibs was growing increasingly frustrated with his inability to sit back and enjoy the party. The girls were doing their best, arching their backs and dragging their plump lips up his neck, but there was no tell-tale twitching in his groin, no desire to bring their lips to his and grind up into their soft arses.

He chugged down the rest of the beer and let his head drop onto the back of the couch, letting the girls do what they wanted. He’d seen her, Pixie, having coffee with the flat footed Muppet in the coffee shop when they rode by and it felt like someone had knocked the wind out of him.

She was beautiful sitting in the window, hair piled on top of her head in a messy twist. Even from a distance her eyes had been piercing as she watched then roll by, but the presence of Hale smiling at her from across the table damn near gutted him. Something dark and hateful had seized him in that moment and he almost turned his bike around and marched into the café.

He tried to remember that this is what he told himself he wanted, she was seeing a nice, normal man with a nine-to-five, but the idea of Hale’s hands on her made Chibs’ fists clench until his knuckles were mottled white and red. Hale was a gutless guppy and he was too by-the-book, too vanilla to ever satisfy her the way she deserved.

He slid the girls off his lap and headed for the makeshift bar. Going straight for the bottle of Jameson, he forwent a cup and plunked himself down next to Opie. Taking a pull from the bottle, he heaved a sigh and offered the bottle to her brother. A new girl, this time thin and red headed slipped herself deftly into his lap and tried futilely to get the scarred Son warmed up.

Chibs let the girl work and went through the motions of enjoying her attention, cupping her ass and letting her nibble at his earlobe. The warmth from the liquor burning in his belly, he kept drinking until his fingers were almost numb and the room seemed to tilt on its axis, the image of Hale smiling at Pixie playing over and over in his mind until he couldn’t stand it anymore.

\----

Someone was hammering their fist on the front door, great pounding knocks that made it rattle on the hinges. Hennessy let out an alarmed bark and the banging continued to come in waves of three or four.

Fearful that someone was hurt, Pixie pulled her 9mm from its nighttime holster and jumped out of bed without so much as putting a bra on. She kept the pistol in the low ready position, sending Hen back to his bed as she moved towards the door.

Looking through the peephole she spotted the culprit. Chibs was on her front step, swaying on his feet as he continued to knock. Cussing, Pixie flipped on the safety and set the pistol down on the little table by the entryway. She unlocked the door and ripped it open in one smooth maneuver that almost sent the inebriated Scot to the floor.

He stumbled inside and she shut the door behind him, wondering how in the hell he was able to make the ride from Cara Cara to her rental without laying his bike down. The thought of him broken and bleeding on the road made something inside of her ache, but it also made her angry. He was a grown ass man, he should know better than to ride in this state. The anger was more comfortable, more familiar to her, so she let it fill her up until she was near vibrating with it.

“Pixie lass!” he exclaimed, accent thick as molasses. His eyes went dark, brows furrowing, “Wha were ya doin with Hale yesterday? Ya sleeping with tha p..prick?” He tried to point a meaty finger at her chest, but immediately became distracted by the view of her nipples poking through the thin fabric of her ribbed tank top. Her breasts were large and heavy without a bra to support them, he wanted to cup them his palm and test the lush weight of them.

Pixie crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes in annoyance. “What are you doing here Filip? It’s late.” She walked into the living room in hopes that he would follow her and collapse on one of the sofas to sleep it off. No way in hell was she letting him ride even if she did want to wring his neck.

He did follow after her, but instead of sitting down he stood closer to her, swaying in. “Came ta get answers, saw ya with the pig at the café.” He tried to glare, but it came off as more of a squint.

“I don’t owe you an explanation, _you_ ended things _remember_?” She leaned back against the kitchen counter radiating anger. She knew arguing with him right now wasn’t going to accomplish anything, but she was spoiling for it.

“Ended it ta protect ya” he slurred invading her space, “Need ya safe an’ away from the club, but yer still here an’ its drivin me mad.” He grabbed at her upper arms, trying to pull her into his chest. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he was saying too much, but it felt like the filter between his mouth and his brain had been ripped away.

She shoved him away roughly, using her position against the counter for support. “Fuck you! They’re my family too. You can’t just order me away like a goddamn whore!”

The force of her shove sent him stumbling back a step, but he recovered quickly and shuffled forward. “No’a whore, never a whore” he said with absolute sincerity.

“Then why did you treat me like one?” she cried out, the pain escaping her tenuous grasp on her violently swirling emotions.  

“Didnae mean ta, love, jus’ wanted ta keep ya safe” he spoke with tenderness, leaning in and stretching out his hand to caress her face.

She slapped his hand away. “No. You wanted to keep you safe, it had nothing to do with me, you prick! And now you show up at my house in the middle of the night, piss drunk, to rehash this shit? I don’t fucking think so!”

He held his position, slowly bringing his hand back up. She was so mad at him, so filled with righteous anger and all he wanted to do was gather her to him and swear to never let her go.

She tried to shove him again, but this time he was ready and leaned into her to claim her mouth. She was stunned at first, not responding until the tip of his tongue dragged across her bottom lip.

Grabbing his chin with a bruising grip she pulled their lips apart. “What the _fuck_!”

He pushed into her grip and kissed her again, the pain not even registering. This time she did respond with an aggressive clash of teeth and tongue, battling him for dominance. He fought back, sliding his hands under her ass to lift her up on the counter top.

She bit at his lip cruelly in retaliation, the taste of copper pennies blooming on her tongue. He wedged himself between her thighs, gripping her hips hard. They parted with a slick ‘pop’.

Pixie’s head was spinning, she was dizzy, high, angry; it was all muddled up in her brain in an incomprehensible tangle. He was so warm against her and she knew she was dripping wet, her core aching despite the desire to smash her fist into his nose. They shouldn’t be doing this, this was exactly the sort of back and forth bullshit she’d been trying to avoid.

She opened her eyes and took in the blown pupils and swollen lip Chibs was sporting. The look of naked desire on his face wrung a low keen from her throat.

He pressed close, brushing his lips over her ear. “Tell me no, tell me ta stop” he paused for a moment to look her in the eye, “Ya cannae.”

This time she kissed him, desperate and longing. She looped her arms around his neck and hooked her legs around his hips, sliding off the counter. He staggered for a moment, using the momentum to carry them forward blindly in the direction of the bedroom.

She unhooked her legs and slid down his body to stand on tip toes. Her fingers moved fast, unbuttoning his soft brown leather jacket and shoving it and his kutte down his arms. The kiss was bruising and wet as she fought with his large belt buckle before turning away from him to rip her wife beater off and drop her pajama shorts in a careless puddle on the laminate floor.

He let loose a deep groan watching the way her bare ass swayed as she moved towards to bed. When he reached out to touch, she turned sharply and shoved him into the wall behind him. Her mouth chased his as she pressed him into it, raising one knee to cradle his hip.

Chibs turned the tables on her, lifting her up and rolling to sandwich her between his chest and the wall. Their lips broke apart with the motion, raising her head above his, but she grasped the fine hairs at the back of his skull and pulled his head back to mesh their lips together again.

 Pixie felt the turgid length of him rubbing against her core and ground her hips in a desperate bid for more friction. Not enough, she arched her back and hips to capture the weeping tip of him between her slick folds.

A filthy, rumbling chuckle escaped Chibs as he slid one hand down to grasp himself and rub the blunt helmet teasingly around her opening, relishing the shudder that wracked her small frame.

Wrenching his head back, Pixie’s slammed back into the wall before looking him dead in the eye, her pupils almost swallowing the blue of her irises. “Fuck me or get out, Chibs” was whispered against his lips, hot breath caressing his moist lips.

He surged upwards, slamming into her roughly, infuriated by her unaffected tone and used of his nickname. He had always been Filip to her, it made everything she said to him feel intimate, special. That she was trying to take that away told him she was still trying to distance herself. He couldn’t let that happen, wouldn’t, he flexed his hips harder and ground into her rigid little nub.

She tipped her head back in a silent scream, the burning length of him almost too much. His thrusts shook her whole body and made her walls spasm and clench in the precursors of an orgasm. Her thighs were burning, but she fought to keep her hips arched at the perfect angle that allowed her swollen clit to rub against his pubic bone and prevented him from going too deep. White splotches danced behind her eyelids as he captured a peaked nipple between his lips and scraped his teeth against it.

It felt like she was rising, higher and higher, until she tipped over the precipice, body going ridged in his arms. He kept thrusting through her orgasm and each thrust seemed to wring out more clenching spasms that made her writhe against the wall. It was too much, it wasn’t enough, she couldn’t possibly go again, but she did, cries echoing in the small room.    


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing but the OCs. Please heed the warnings; the first bit of this chapter may be triggering for some as it deals with recounting previous experiences of intimate partner violence, if it is difficult for you to read please skip to the first page break. Thank you for all the kudos again, it's very encouraging :)

Peeling open bleary eyes to stare at the glowing green numbers on the nightstand blinking 8:03am, Chibs groaned and shoved his head back into the pillow. The smell of rose perfume layered over top of fresh laundry crept to the forefront of his groggy mind. He raised his head and scanned the room, he was alone in Pixie’s bedroom.

Flashes of last night assaulted him and he dropped back down with a deeper groan. He remembered getting the image of her and Hale stuck in his brain, being too angry to let it go. He couldn’t recall much of the drive over, but he knew she’d been pissed at him. They’d talked for a while, he remembered the guilt when she said she felt like he’d treated her like a whore.

She’d been furious when he kissed her, he pressed a finger to the small cut on his bottom lip, but she gave as good as she got. He savoured the memory of her writhing against the wall as he thrust frantically in a bid to prove that no one else could ever satisfy her the way he did. The feeling of utter possession when she went limp in his arms and let him curl around her in the bed made his cock twitch, no one else ever got to see her so vulnerable.

She was a mystery, laying herself bare one painstaking layer at a time. His time away from her had succeeded only in proving that the sweetbutts and porn stars that flocked to the club members were pale shadows compared to Pixie. Staying away from her was futile, she wouldn’t leave Charming or the family she’d found here and Chibs couldn’t escape the gravity of her presence.  

He took a deep inhale, before looking for his clothes. For better or worse she was under his skin, taking jumper cables to parts of him that he thought were dead and gone after Fiona left. Chibs couldn’t cleanse himself of her touch, not with all the liquor and pussy in the clubhouse, it was like trying to cut off his own arm.

He followed the smell of coffee into her small living space and found her wrapped up in a plush robe sitting at the dining table with a steaming mug. She turned to glance at him before looking back down at the cup.

“There’s fresh coffee if you want some” she mumbled, taking a sip of the scalding liquid without so much as a flinch.

Awkwardly, Chibs shuffled over to her kitchen, pulled his favorite mug out of the cabinet and poured himself a generous cup of the rich brew. The coffee she made always tasted a thousand times better than the day old sludge that was served at the garage, it must have been the beans she bought from the café with their funny names and little burlap bags. He took a seat at the table and blew on the hot liquid, unsure how to start.

“You shouldn’t have ridden here last night wobbly as you were, could’ve laid your bike down” she said conversationally.

He wanted to huff at the idea, he’d been sober enough to lift her up a wall, of course he was able to ride, but remembering how mad she’d been when he stumbled through the door, he kept it to himself. “Wanted ta see ya, lass, didn’t want ta wait until mornin.”

She took another sip of coffee and stared out the tiny window in her kitchen. “What are we doing, Filip?” she sighed deeply, “Why did you come? You made your feelings pretty clear the day of the funeral.”

“The day o’ the funeral I said those things ta drive ya away, ta protect ya from the same fate as Donna. I couldn’t live with myself if it was yer body being buried next, so I tried ta shut ya out. It didn’t work though, I couldn’t stay away.” He reached out a hand to touch hers, but she pulled away and walked to the kitchen sink to rinse her mug.

“You were running scared and expected that I would be waiting in the wings for you to figure your shit out?” She let out a dark chuckle, “Well, I guess I was…” the cup banged dangerously in the sink from her rough treatment.

Chibs hated the self-deprecating way she talked about herself, she was so strong, something in his chest twisted painfully at how fragile she looked. He placed a hand on her shoulder to turn her before she broke the cup. “I was a coward, love, and I’m sorry ta have hurt ya like this.”

“I’m not some croweater, Filip, I won’t take your shit and keep coming back for more. My heart can’t take that kinda crap, not again.” Fat tears were rolling down her cheeks as she clenched her fists in the soft cotton of his shirt.

Stunned, he curled his arms around her and walked them both to the couch, sitting with her cradled in his lap. She never cried, not in front of him at least. Something cold and clenching was churning in his stomach, he suspected something when he saw how she reacted to the BMW scumbag but he had never dared to ask. “Tell me, love, let me help.”

Pixie was burning up with shame, she tried to quite her breathing and focus on the feel of him holding her. She knew she’d given more away than she meant to and now she was backed into a corner. He deserved to why she was acting the way she was. It was just so hard to make the words pass her lips after so many years of choking them down.

Her breath was still coming in shuddering little gasps but she tried her best to seem calm. “My freshman year at Cornell one of my housemates introduced me to a friend of theirs, Tyler. He was everything I could have hoped for; handsome, put together, knew what he wanted, came from a good family. He was a real sweet talker too, charmed me from the moment we were introduced. We started dating and everything was great, he was attentive and understanding of my crazy schedule.”

“He was always protective, jealous; at first I thought it was romantic, like he loved me so much he couldn’t stand the idea of another man touching me. But we started to fight a lot, back and forth shit. He couldn’t stand how independent I was and I hated how confrontational he was with other guys. We were always screaming at each other one second and then having makeup sex then next. I thought that that was what passion was supposed to feel like.”

She hid her face under Chibs’ jaw, unable to continue with his eyes on her. Being with Tyler has felt like the epic romances she watched on TV, huge fights followed by passionate sex. He’d been so loving in the days that followed, buying her flowers, spending all of his time with her. It always felt like it was worth it in the end, like the fights brought them closer together.

“When we started living together it turned into something else, I couldn’t go anywhere without him calling me a dozen times and when I did go out he would lose his mind accusing me of cheating, calling me horrible names. One night he finally snapped and hit me, he was so apologetic afterwards but I knew it was a lie, my father taught me that lesson well enough. I left, spent the night with a friend and then came back during the day with a few of the bigger guys from my cohort to pack up my stuff and leave. He kept calling me, kept trying to apologise, begging me not to leave him, but I ignored it.”

She remembered sitting in the bathroom trying to blend her makeup together in a futile attempt to cover up the black eye in time for class and crying in humiliation when nothing worked. The pitying looks from her classmates and the disapproving looks from her instructors still stung.

Chibs caressed her head gently, holding her tight to his chest to stop his fists from balling up at the thought of someone raising a hand to her.

“A few weeks later he started showing up after my classes to try to talk to me. The guys always made sure to walk me to my car, but they couldn’t be everywhere at once especially when the semester ended. One of the guys, Max, got in a big fight with him and I guess Tyler assumed we were together.” She paused for a moment, swallowing thickly and struggled to find the right words.

“I was packing up to go home for the summer, he broke into my new apartment, ranting and raving about how I’d betrayed him. He…he raped me at gunpoint. When it was over he let his guard down, so I took the gun and I shot him.” She spoke in a rush, the admission felt like it was squeezed out of the bottom of her lungs, if she lingered, she wouldn’t be able to stay detached.

“My face was pretty bruised up and with the hospital’s documentation of the assault, it was a clear cut case of self-defence or so my lawyers told me. His father was a wealthy businessman, he tried to have me charged, but Grams’ lawyers were better.”

Standing surrounded by her grandparents and lawyers while Tyler’s mother spat at her and called her a lying whore would haunt her until the day she died. She was crying again, but this time she didn’t try to stop it, she just wanted to get it all out before she couldn’t talk anymore. Memories were fighting to break free and overwhelm her, but she pushed through them to continue.

“I didn’t want anyone to know, I couldn’t stand the pity but my grandmother wouldn’t let me sweep it under the rug. She made me go to counseling and take self-defence classes, I hated it, but it kept me from losing myself completely. It was my grandpa that really helped me put the pieces back together when I was finished falling apart. He kept taking me to his clinic, made me work until I was too tired to think about anything else, it gave me a purpose again. I graduated top of my class two years later.”

She cracked a wobbly smile, her grandparents really had been her salvation. Neither one had been the type to give up, but together they were an unstoppable force that had given her no choice but to work through the agonizing process of healing. The day she walked across that stage to accept her degree was their proudest moment.

She rubbed at her eyes and finally peeked up at Chibs through her wet lashes. His expression was stormy and unreadable, lines of tension spreading from his eyes.

“After what happened trusting people is something I struggle with, it’s hard for me to open myself up like that. I know you’d never do something like that to any woman, it’s not who you are, but I need you to understand that what you did crossed a line; it hurt me and broke the trust I had in you. All of the relationships I’ve had since Tyler have been temporary, I could never let anyone close enough for more…until you.” her voice started to crack at the end but she tried to maintain the eye contact.

Chibs reached a hand up to cup her face, unsure how to articulate all of the things he wanted to say. He was shattered by the thought of what she went through. He was amazed by her strength to carry on and become the woman she was today. Most of all he was furious with himself, the guilt was going to eat at him for a long while.

“I am so goddamn sorry ya had ta go through tha’ and I swear tha’ I would never raise a hand ta ya.” He tucked her head back under his chin and held her tight. “I’ve been a selfish bastard, love, an’ I understand if it’ll take some time fer ya ta feel like ya can trust me again, but I would be grateful fer a second chance.” He kissed her head and pulled a throw blanket over her shuddering body.

Seeing her in so much pain was breaking his heart and he had no idea how to help her. He wished that he could raise the bastard from the dead and kill him himself, but all he could do was pull her closer and hope that the damage he’d done wasn’t irreparable.

She heaved a great, gulping sigh and nodded her head from where it rested in his chest, lifting up a hand blindly to cup his cheek. She had told Gemma that she wasn’t going to fight for the scarred biker, that it was Filip that needed to figure it out on his own. It was a familiar strategy that had worked on the few men she had dared to see since Tyler, absolving her of responsibility and allowing her to crush any emotional pain under the weight of her anger.

No one had ever woven their way through her defences like the Scot had, and she had been terrified of this moment, of telling him, since the night under the redwood. So much so, that the anger that had accompanied him ending things had almost been a relief. She knew now that what she told Gemma was a lie. He had hurt her, true, but he had come back and stood unflinching before the darkest parts of her past. She wouldn’t let him go quietly, not anymore. Maybe this was what love was meant to feel like.

\----

He was still there when she woke up, tucking her hair behind her ears and kissing the drying tear tracks on her face. He was there the next morning too, and the one after that. Every moment he could spare from the club he was there pressing kisses to her hair, whispering how beautiful, how strong she was, taking her for long rides, or sitting silently on her couch while she watched nature documentaries. Part of her was still waiting for his attentiveness to flag, for him to become bored with it and go back to the clubhouse, but he didn’t.

Pixie closed her eyes and pictured their first weekend after getting back together. Chibs picked her up early, dressed as he had for their very first date. He brushed his lips gently over hers before helping her onto the back of his bike. Fulfilling his old promise, they spent the afternoon at Fun Town strolling between carnival games and food vendors, laughing when they both started to feel sick from all the spinning rides. When night began to creep across the sky the gruff Scot took her hand, led her to the Farris wheel and cradled her securely into his side. When they arrived back at her rental he gave her a gentle kiss and turned to leave, but she asked him to stay. Tucked into bed, he curled himself around her and settled in like he had been there beside her her whole life, no awkwardness or hesitance, contented in each other’s presence.  

She had forgiven Chibs for the things he said after that weekend, but the pain wouldn’t be forgotten so easily or so soon. She appreciated that he never asked for forgiveness, never made her feel guilty for taking her time. He simply acknowledged his fault and did his best to prove though his actions that he was worthy of another chance.  

He didn’t treat her differently after her admission either, didn’t make her out to be fragile as others had once they found out. He called her a lioness, admiration shining in his dark eyes, and Pixie didn’t have a clue how to respond to that. She wasn’t brave, not really, she’d done what she needed to in order to survive, but when he looked at her like that she wanted to be.

Dabbing perfume on her wrists, Pixie took a final look at herself in the mirror. The waving blond hair she’d always struggled to tame was twisted and pinned back from her ears and out of trouble. She’d picked out a sheer, billowing floral cardigan to go over top of a beaded white tank top and skinny jeans. She wanted to look nice when she waved the boys off on their charity ride.  

Pixie smiled as she grabbed her keys, her brother had not been so forgiving of the Scot when he’d gotten wind of it. Chibs took it like a man though, pulling Juice aside to tell him what had happened. He’d expected the punch and wore the bruise on his cheek with pride. Her honor avenged, Juice had given the older Son a slap on the back and sat down for a drink.

_Men_ , she huffed driving to the clubhouse. The lot was packed when she pulled in, people bustling back and forth. She let Hennessy out and strolled over to where the guys were doubled over on their bikes, presumably laughing at the red faced prospect who looked like he’d rather be anywhere else.

“Hey sweetheart, those big meanies picking on you again?” she asked, giving him a one armed hug. He flashed her an embarrassed grin and ducked around the other guys to mount up.

She squeaked when Juice came up behind her to pick her up off her feet, he grinned like a fool at when she turned around to smack him. “Opie’s trading places with me, I’ll come by after we close up.”

She moved towards Chibs with a soft smile, standing with her legs on either side of his Dyna’s front wheel to stretch out and give him a gentle kiss. “Have fun saving the children, I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

“Aye, _ban-leòmhann_ , I’ll be home fer supper” he replied with a cheeky grin. If he could have made the whole run in one day he would have. Curling up next to her on her pillow-top mattress with a belly full of home cooking was infinitely better than sleeping alone in a shitty motel bed guts full of greasy burgers and cheap beer. Maybe he was just getting old.

Pixie rolled her eyes exaggeratedly and went to stand with Piney, who threw an arm over her shoulder. “Don’t worry boys, I’ll take good care of the womenfolk” the old-timer teased, winking at Chibs when Pixie patted his barrel chest and pecked him on the cheek.

She couldn’t help but laugh at the gleeful look on Happy’s face when he popped off two shots in the middle of the lot to signal the start of the run, he looked like a tattooed kid in a candy store. Hen barked excitedly at her side when he heard the gunfire, scanning the sky for falling birds. She held him back, not wanting him to get too close to the stream of bikes pulling out, and waved.

\----

Dark rolled in around Chibs as the party raged on. He ignored the black haired sweetbutt that had been smiling at him all night in favour of pulling his phone out of his inner pocket and walking towards the row of bikes.

The run had not gone as expected with Tig getting hurt and then picked up by bounty hunters, and now that the adrenaline had worn off his body was aching and stiff from the impact of the flatbed plowing into the motel wall. He could feel a headache building in with every glare Jax and Clay shot at each other, the pressure building behind his eyes was making him irritable.

Dialing her number from memory, he straddled his bike and waited her to pick up. Her voice was soft and sleepy when the call connected, he could hear a movie playing in the background. “Mmmm, Filip?”

“Hallo, love, did I wake ya?” He could picture the exact expression that would accompany that voice, relaxed and smiling gently, eyes heavily lidded and unfocused. He was half hard at the thought of kissing those slack lips, feeling her warm hands sliding down his chest.

“No, Juice and I were having a sleepover, but he conked out a while ago” she yawned “We got Tig sorted out, how did the rest of the run go?” By sorted she meant higher than a kite on oxy and tucked away in the dorms to be waited on hand and foot by the prospect after a disastrous trip to the St. Thomas emergency department. She had come close to clubbing the tall Sergeant at Arms like a fish more than once for his behaviour towards the hospital staff.       

“Uneventful, we’re staying at some godawful motel off the highway, jus’ waitin for the party ta die down a bit before headin there.” He felt tired all the way down to his bones, the sort of tired that a few hours of sleep on a lumpy mattress wasn’t going to cure.

She hummed softly. “Juice hogs all the covers; he’s not a very courteous stand-in.”

He missed her too. “Give’im an elbow an’ take them back, yer feet get too cold ta go without.”

“Naw, he gets grumpy without his beauty sleep, I’ll just use the throw blanket.” She smiled at the seriousness of his voice, he truly was trying to make amends for his behaviour and sometimes it came out as overprotective nonsense. “You gonna be home in time for dinner tomorrow? I think I’ll make Shepard’s pie.”

His stomach gurgled at the thought. “Wouldn’ miss it.” Quietly he continued, “Wish I was home wi’ ya right now, love.”

She chuckled, “I wish you were here too, it’s so much easier to sleep when you’re around.” She didn’t miss the way he called her place home, but she tried not to make too much of it, he probably meant home as in Charming.

Chibs grinned at her admission; it made him feel ten feet tall. “Try ta get some sleep, love, I’ll see ya tomorrow.” He did want to let her go, but it was almost one in the morning and she had a lot of shite on her plate.

“Sweet dreams, babe” she replied before reluctantly hanging up.

Chibs tucked his pre-paid back in its proper pocket and sat back down with the other lads, good mood restored. He took a pull from a bottle of Jack and kicked his boots up onto the plastic table. He was going to dream about her sleep rough voice and sweet little hums for the rest of the night.

\----

The rumble of bikes echoed in the TM lot, announcing the return of the Sons. Pixie hopped of the picnic table she was perched on as soon as she spotted Chibs, leaving Hen with a hobbled Tig. She watched Jax and Clay storm apart in opposite directions as she approached, wondering what was going on between stepfather and son.

She had talked to Gemma when she first arrived, seeing how she was doing, but the older woman dodged her every attempt by instead inquiring about her and Chibs. She hadn’t planned on saying anything, but knowing the circumstances of Gemma’s attack, she hoped that sharing a little of her story would help Gemma find comfort in not being alone.

Pixie sat on the corner of the desk in the office and steeled herself for the conversation. She tried to keep the details to a minimum, but found that the Queen of SAMCRO had ways of making her talk. In the end she gave Gemma more than just the Coles Notes version of events she had planned on. The leather clad woman cradled Pixie’s face between her hands and kissed her forehead, trying to hide the glistening of unshed tears in her eyes.

Without even really realizing it, Pixie found herself talking about her internal struggle hoping the older woman would have answers. Her heart had already forgiven Chibs, but her head told her that she should be angrier, that forgiving so easily was weakness. Gemma huffed and cocked her hip in exasperation, “Sweetheart, holding on just because you _think_ you should be mad is bullshit. Tell him that if he ever fucks up like that again you’ll castrate him and then move on.” It was easy to say that, but Pixie suspected that Gemma had said those very words to more than one male over the course of her years.

Unbuckling his helmet and tucking it away, Chibs closed the distance between them. Tugging Pixie up for a kiss that turned into two, Chibs felt some of the tension he’d been carrying in his shoulders uncoil. “Miss me, love?” he asked, setting her down.

Pixie laughed, teasing him gently. “What? When I had Tig’s wonderful company? Course not.”

Knowing exactly how Tig was when he was in pain, Chibs raised an eyebrow and looked over at his brother. “Tha’ bastard behave himself fer ya?” Said bastard made a mock injured noise in the background.

She smiled condescendingly. “Whiney McBaby, was a complete gentleman once we got some oxy in him.” Gentleman was stretching the truth a bit, but he was improved enough that she didn’t have to kill him and that’s what really counted.

Chibs turned to Tig and slapped his wounded brother on the shoulder. “How’s the leg?”

Tig crinkled his nose, looking down at the lumps the bandages caused under his jeans. “Its fine, docs got me all taped up.” In a rare moment of sincerity he continued, “You got yourself a good woman there, Chibby, took real good care of me.”

Knowing how unfavorably Tig usually viewed women other than Gemma, Pixie cracked a grin his approving tone. She would probably never understand him, but it was nice to know that he didn’t hate her guts. Maybe she could get him to dog-sit Hen every now and again, Juice was such a baby about hair and slobber.    

“I know” Chibs grinned, looping an arm around her petite waist. She was a lioness, fierce and strong, but also nurturing, loving. He watched as she interacted with his brothers as if she had always been a part of them. Pride filled him, she was a part of their family now and of all the choices before her, she chose him, twice over.

Driving up to her place felt like coming home and that was something he hadn’t felt since the day Jimmy O took his wife and child. Seeing her bustling around the kitchen with her dog weaving between her legs was so wonderfully domestic for a man that had been bereft of such moments. The Sons were his family and he loved them dearly, but love of a brother and love of a good woman were two different things.

She caressed the side of his face when he walked up beside her, and offered him a taste of the creamy mashed potatoes she was scooping across the top of the pie. She was a wonderful cook and loved to feed her family, though she was quick to remind him and Juice that once the clinic opened they would be out of luck.

The buttery flavour melted across his tongue and he pressed a kiss to the side of her head in gratitude. “Can I help with anything?”

She shook her head. “Nope, I got this. Why don’t you go take a nice hot bath? I think you’ve got some clean pants and a sweater in the dresser, the pie is going to be a while.” He looked like he could use a good soak and a long nap.

“Aye” he agreed, stooping to brush his lips over hers before moving towards her small bathroom.

The water was just this side of scalding when Chibs sank his tired body into the tub. He couldn’t quite stretch his legs out fully, but it felt wonderful none the less. There was a small bottle of shampoo that didn’t smell overly flowery so he poured a generous amount and scrubbed the road dust from his hair. Lifting his head back above the water he took notice of Pixie twisting her hair up at the sink.

“Oven timer’s on, we’ve got 20 minutes” she smiled mischievously at him, dipping her toes in before sliding between his legs. Her head rested back on his shoulder as they both sank down until her chin was barely above the water, excess water pouring down the overflow drain.

The solid, warm weight of her back against his chest was soothing and Chibs found himself starting to drift off. He woke when the water started to cool and Pixie reached to the other side of the bath to collect a palm full of body wash. Turning in the tight confines of the tub, she worked the slick lather up his arms and across his shoulders, paying particular attention to his tattoos.

He hummed in contentment when her fingers gently started to dig into the stiff muscles in the back of his neck, the lass had magic fingers. Prick giving a half-hearted twitch at the stimulation, Chibs let it go in favour of keeping her tender ministrations right where they were. The act of cleansing his body felt more intimate in that moment than anything they could have accomplished in the bedroom.

Pixie smiled softly when his eyes slipped shut again. She hadn’t meant to join him but when she poked her head in and saw how relaxed he looked she couldn’t herself. He was so trusting, rolling his head back to give her access to his neck. It felt important, bigger than just cleaning him up after a run. He was seceding control, baring his throat to her, proving that he trusted her when he was most vulnerable.

She rinsed him off with the lukewarm water and brushed her lips under his jaw. “C’mon, need to feed you before you drop.”

Rising out of the water, she looked like Venus, he thought, or maybe some mythic water nymph come to grant him a glimpse of heaven. He stood reaching for the large, fluffy towel she placed on the edge of the bath. Stepping out, he shuffled slowly to the pile of clean cloths folded neatly on the end of her bed.

Dinner was a delicious savoury affair, the pie was rich and hot, flavourful without all of the extra seasoning and spice Americans seemed to favour. Chibs ate slowly, enjoying sips of beer between each bite. The smile that spread across Pixie’s lips when he told her how much he appreciated the meal made her glow like she was lit from within.

When Chibs licked the last of dark chocolate mousse off his spoon, he heaved a contented sigh. The only time he’d been so well fed since coming to the states was when Gemma hosted one of her family dinners. He stood up and collected the dishes, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Go’ the dishes, love, why don’t ya pick us a movie?”

She watched him move the dishes to the sink, deciding that a movie was not on tonight’s agenda. Walking up behind him, she brushed a tender kiss over his shoulder, grasping the back of his arm. “Leave the dishes till morning, babe.” Twining his fingers with hers, she led him back to the bedroom.

The kiss she pulled him down for was tender but urgent. “Make love to me, Filip” she said, caressing the side of his face.

He meshed their mouths back together, faster and wetter than before, untying the robe she had donned after their bath. Free of his cloths as well, the scarred biker manoeuvred them both to the plush bed. Hovering over her, he slid his callused fingers down the valley between her breasts. Her nipples tightened into hard little buds and the Scot couldn’t resist the temptation to take them one at a time into his mouth.

The rasping of his teeth on her nipple sent a frisson of heat down her body. Tossing her head back, she rubbed her thighs together when the sensation almost became too much. When he pulled off of her with an obscene pop her nipples were distended and flushed a deep pink.

His moist breath traveled down her belly to rest between her hip bones where he pressed hot, open mouth kisses to the soft skin above the neatly trimmed triangle of curls. Skimming his fingers up her thigh, he caressed her soft, bare folds, testing the wetness that was already dripping from her.

Pixie canted her hips at his touch in a desperate bid for more. When the teasing continued she cupped the back of his head and pulled him up for a kiss. “I need you, Filip” she whispered, breathing warm puffs of air against his lips.

He caught her mouth in a frenzied kiss, nipping at her bottom lip and soothing the sting with his tongue. He broke away just long enough to snag a rubber out of the nightstand and roll it on before guiding himself into her clenching channel.

A shuddering gasp escaped her when he began to thrust, gently at first, but building in speed. Tilting her hips up, the blunt head of his thick cock scraped across the patch of spongy tissue that made her writhe against the sheets. He was being so very gentle with her, so tender and sweet.

Raising her knees, she suddenly rolled, flipping them until she we sitting astride the wide-eyed Scot. Grinning at the look on his face, Pixie leaned down to brush her lips over his for a moment and then rose up with a hand to the center of his chest.

She began undulating her hips, rolling in a way that dragged the tip of him against her sensitized walls and stimulated her throbbing nub. She rode him hard, throwing her head back and closing her eyes at the enormous building of pressure. The low moan that rumbled out of his chest made her open her eyes to look at him.

He looked wrecked, pupils dilated, panting. The sight of him tore a high pitched keen from her throat and made her reach for her clit. Seeing what she was doing, he snatched her hand away and thrust up twice before she tipped over the edge, crying out in her pleasure.

The ripping of her walls nearly stole his breath and made his vision white out, barely lasting one more thrust before spilling violently into the latex. Chibs gripped her hips tightly as he rode out the last spurts of his orgasm. Her hips were amazing, he caressed them tenderly, the sensual way they moved when she rode him was going to take center stage in all of his road fantasies during the runs yet to come.

Pixie dismounted when he started to soften inside her, missing the delicious stretch of him already. Crawling under the covers, she turned and tucked herself against his side.

Chibs chuckled breathlessly, pressing his lips to her crown. “My fierce _ban-leòmhann_.”

She tided her head back to look the older man in the eye, words stuck in her throat for a long moment. What was it that Gemma had told her to say? “I am. Yours, that is. I’m trusting you with my heart, Filip Telford, but don’t think for one second that I won’t castrate you if you fuck up like that again. I’m a vet, I’ve had lots of practice.” This was her leap of faith, her choosing trust over fear.

His grin turned soft and he tugged her up for a tender, lingering kiss. “Aye, love, I would expect nothing less from my lioness.” His heart was hammering so hard it felt like it would break through his ribs as he came to the realization that he was desperately, irreversibly in love with her.  

          


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing, thank you again for all the kudos, It motivates me to write faster! On a side note, a friend of mine pierced Tommy Flanagan's eyebrow while in was in Vancouver (as if he wasn't hot enough)

Pixie drifted awake slowly, clinging to the warm half-asleep, half-awake state that let her mind float peacefully. The weight of Chibs’ arm draped across her waist and his soft snores roused her gently. Stretching from fingers to toes, she rolled over to stare at his slack expression.

Relaxed and free of worry lines, the Scot looked much younger than his 43 years. She ran a careful fingertip over the scar that ran up his cheek, tracing the shallow groove. She’d stopped noticing them somewhere along the line, sort of like you stop noticing a picture on the wall after years of it being in the same place.

She knew that people often saw the scars before they saw the man, they thought of the violent life he must have led to receive such gruesome markings. To Pixie they were reminders of his strength, evidence that he had survived something that would have destroyed most people. In that regard she supposed they were a matched pair, both survivors doing their best to live with the scars life have given them.

Chibs grumbled and pulled her hand down to brush a kiss to her palm, eyes still stubbornly closed. “S’early still, love, g’back ta sleep” he purred, accent so thick it was barely decipherable.

Pixie huffed out a soft laugh. “It’s almost seven thirty, you need to get up and drive Kip to the hospital like you promised.” The poor prospect was so excited about getting his implant, but he was terrified of going under the knife. She would have volunteered to take the sweet young biker herself, but she knew he wouldn’t want her to see him in such a vulnerable state.

Chibs groaned loudly and curled in on himself, shoving his face into her collarbone. She stroked his hair for a few more moments before the alarm went off. “Now you really do have to get up” she said pressing a kiss to his hair before rolling out of bed and turning off the alarm. She pulled the covers down so he couldn’t go back to sleep and then left to feed Hennessy and rustle up some grub for them.

He emerged from her room a few minutes later, dressed in all black and still scrubbing the sleep from his eyes. Pixie handed him a cup of strong coffee without a word when he slumped down at the table. She’d never been a morning person, but years of emergency calls had taught her to function at odd hours with very little sleep, Chibs on the other hand was like a bear with a thorn in its paw until he had coffee and a smoke.

She set a bowl of cereal down and a jug of milk in front of him, chuckling when he leveled a half-hearted glare at her. Lucky Charms cereal had mysteriously appeared in her cupboards one day-bless her brother’s childlike sense of humor- and she’d been trying to snap a picture of Chibs eating the marshmallow filled junk food ever since.

Looking more alive after he’d downed the coffee and most of the cereal, he settled back in his chair. “Why did I agree ta this again?”

“Because he’s your prospect and you didn’t want me ogling his goodies” she replied smirking at his whiney tone.

He gave her an affronted look. “Wee man doesnae have goodies, he’s a neuter-baby far as yer concerned.”      

Pixie rolled her eyes with a smile and scooped up his bowl, kissing the side of his head. “Kip is a sweetheart and someday he’ll make some pretty young thing a wonderful Old Man, but I like my men a little sturdier and a lot less green.”

The Scot pulled her down into his lap, nuzzling his face into her neck to mouth at it. “Sturdy, am I?”

She hummed in contentment, tilting her head aside to give him more room. “Don’t have to worry about breaking you in half when I want it hard.”

His laugh was positively filthy. “Aye, love, can take care o’my woman’s needs, no’ ta worry ‘bout tha.” His teeth scraped against her sensitive skin, raising goosebumps in their wake.

She pulled his head up for a languid kiss. “You can show me later, babe, right now you’ve got a prospect to tend to.” Pixie patted his arm in consolation and moved off his lap to deal with the dishes.

\----

There was a high pitched squealing noise coming from the POS. It wasn’t constant, rising up above the rattle of the engine at unpredictable times and setting her teeth on edge. It was driving her crazy. Maybe choosing to take the old truck was a poorer decision than she’d initially thought.

Pixie pulled out her cell phone and dialed the number for the garage. Juice sounded irritated when he finally picked up with a terse “Hello?”

“Hey, the POS in making funny noises, are there any appointment times left at the end of the day?” Maybe she should bring something from the café for him, some sugar and caffeine could only help his disposition.

There was rustling of papers. “Bring it by just before closing, one of us can take a look.”

Pixie took a wild guess that something bad must be afoot if the cheerful idiot was acting so morose. “Thanks hun, ‘preciate it! Everything alright over there?”

The mohawked Son sighed heavily. “It’s fine Pix, some shit’s going on with the club, one of the guys on the inside got hurt.”

That was definitely not all, Pixie decided. “Okay, let me know if I can help, I’ll be by in a few hours.”

“See ya.” Juice hung up.

Pixie shoved her phone back in her purse and parked out front of the clinic, making a mental note to pick up enough goodies for everyone. Hungry bikers were cranky bikers.

\----

Box full of Danishes, turnovers, and triple chocolate brownies on the seat next to her, Pixie pulled into a surprisingly empty Teller-Morrow. Handing her keys over to Dog she asked “Where is everyone?” holding out the open box for the weathered mechanic to choose a treat.

“Inside, voting on something, should be out in a bit” he grumbled out in between bites.

Pixie nodded her thanks and headed over to the picnic table to wait. The boys started to filter out, congregating around their bikes for a smoke. Chibs spotted her and flashed her a weak smile, closing the distance between them. Pixie tilted her head back for a kiss before he flopped down on the bench next to her. “Tough day at the office?” she asked, offering him a baked good.

He grunted in response, selecting a strawberry Danish. “Juicy said the POS was giving ya trouble?”

“Uh huh, making funny noises, Dog’s taking a look at it. Do you have time to get some dinner after this? I was thinking of picking up some pasta from that Italian place Gemma recommended.” Her poor man, he looked in need of a good meal and some rest, but he never thought about his own needs when there was shit going down with the club.

“Jus’ gotta finish up, and then we can go.” He stood, bending down to steal one more kiss before making his way back to the garage.  

Pixie stood and stretched, bringing the box with her when she headed towards the other Sons. Tig even gave her a smile when he snatched up a brownie, his leg pretty much healed. “Thanks, doll” he said, taking a second one tucking it away for later.

Gemma and Tara rolled onto the lot and Pixie sat and chatted with the pediatric surgeon for a while, killing time until Chibs was finished. She tried not to stare too much at Tara’s taped up nose or the deep bruises setting in around her eyes. When curiosity finally got the better of her and she asked, Tara’s response was an irritated huff, “Startled Gemma.”

_Ah, the punch first response_ , Pixie gathered, trying not to laugh at the indignant look on Tara’s face. She offered the bruised doctor a treat and went back to man-watching. Chibs being all confident and bossy around the other guys was kind of a turn on.

She turned back to ask her opinion on men in work shirts, when the world exploded around them.    

\----

Riding in the ambulance with the EMTs working furiously around her, Pixie couldn’t think straight. She tried to focus on what they were doing to Chibs, compare the equipment and techniques to her own, but she couldn’t focus. The cool detachment she normally felt when dealing with emergencies was out the window the second she saw her Scot laying in a puddle of his own blood.

Tears welling up in her eyes were blinding her, Pixie scrubbed viciously at them with her sleeve. Sobbing like an idiot would not help the EMTs do their jobs. She took and deep breath and counted. Five things you can see: penlight, BVM, IV bags, lights, fire extinguisher. Four things you can hear: sirens, EMTs talking, the radio, rattling of equipment in cupboards. Three things you can touch: denim jeans, nylon bag, metal zipper. Two things you can smell: antiseptic, sodium nitrate. One more deep breath.

When the ambulance arrived at St. Thomas, Pixie followed behind the stretcher trying to keep enough distance to give room to the emergency staff. There was a flurry of questions being thrown out; what happened? Did she see him hit his head? Is he allergic to anything? What was her relation to Filip Telford? On and on they went as they proceeded down the hall to the waiting trauma bay.

Pixie waited impatiently in one of the hideous pleather chairs in the waiting area, wringing her hands in between rapid fire texts to Tara and Juice. She almost cried again when Tara phoned to let her know that she had called in a favour with one of the admin staff and had Pixie listed as next of kin. There was no way in hell she was going anywhere regardless of hospital policy.

A weathered looking older man in white coat made his way towards her followed by a tall blond younger man in mint scrubs. “Are you here for Mr. Telford?”

Her whole body jumped and went on high alert. “Yes, how is he?” she asked, trying to keep her voice even.

The older man sat down in the chair next to her and nodded to the younger man who began talking. “Mr. Telford had significant bleeding in his brain, Dr. Gallagher did everything he could to stop it without drilling into his skull to release the pressure. He’s going to be transferred to ICU for monitoring. If the bleeding stops then we should see him regaining consciousness, if not then surgery will be the only option.”

The older man coughed, giving a stern look to the younger man before turning to look at Pixie. “I went with the least invasive method because I believe it will be successful and there will be no further need for surgery. Mr. Telford is a tough man, I think he’ll recover nicely.” He gave her a smile, old face creasing heavily, and patted her hand. “You can head up to the third floor, I’ve already told ICU to expect you.”

Pixie shook his hand vigorously. “Thank you” she whispered, not sure how to express the depth of her gratitude.

The handsome blond also reached out to shake her hand. “I’m Dr. Andrews, please have the nurses page me if you or your father have any questions, Miss.”

Pixie shook his hand lightly, already turning towards the elevators. She didn’t have time to deal with presumptuous assholes right now. Her fingers flew across the small keyboard on her phone, passing on the information to her brother and Tara. Filip was going to be okay, come hell or high water, he was going to make it.  

\----

Chib’s eyelids fluttered, he groaned when the ambient light stabbed at his brain as he fought to open his eyes. Everything was hazy, as though it was cloaked in a thick fog that he couldn’t quite penetrate.

“Hey stranger” came the soft spoken response from beside him. Pixie was leaning back in a chair with her legs stretched out in front of her, flipping through real-estate ads. She set the paper down to lean over his bedside and brushed her lips over his ever so gently.

“You’ve stabilized enough that the doctors said you could have visitors, immediate family only. Tara worked her magic and got me on the list.” She flipped the chair around so she could face him and hold his hand, mindful of all the tubes and wires.

“Wha’ happened?” He asked, voice barely above a whisper. She appeared a blurry blob of colors to him, but everything was slowly starting to come into focus.

She smiled at the sound of his voice, it was the first time she’d heard him coherent in two days and the relief nearly felled her. “The van you were backing into the garage bay exploded and threw you head first into the asphalt, the impact caused a bleed in your brain. You’ve been in and out of consciousness, but the neurologist thinks you’ve turned a corner.”

She leaned forward to kiss his knuckles, choking back a solid ball of emotion. “The guys kept coming in and out of the waiting room, driving the nurses crazy asking about you and I’m pretty sure if one more person tells Gemma she’s not immediate family she’s going to explode.” God help the nursing staff when hurricane Gemma made landfall.

He smiled tiredly. That sounded about right. The look on her face when he was finally able to see her clearly made his smile drop. “Wha’ is it, love?”

She was reluctant to tell him, reluctant to burden him when he had only just opened his eyes, but not knowing would cause him more stress than knowing. “It’s the guys, they tried to retaliate but they got some bad intel. Everyone is okay, but Juice, Hap, Clay, Jax, Tig, and Bobby all got hauled off to county on weapons charges. Bail hasn’t been set yet, but we’re going to talk to Rosen about it tomorrow.”

Chibs let out a low groan, things were going to pot. “Lemme know wha’ Rosen says, okay?”

“Will do babe, as long as you promise to be a good boy and mind the doctor” it was doubtful but a girl had to try.

“Never been much fer the good boy routine, darlin” he smiled at her.

She rewarded him with a crooked smirk. “Suppose I did put out for a bad-boy.” She squeezed his hand one more time before settling back in the chair.

“Ya lookin’ at houses, love?” He looked pointedly at the paper in her lap.

“Uh huh, the clinic is almost up and running so I figured it was time to stop wasting money on rent and set down some roots.” She was trying to look nonchalant, but Chibs could see the shine of unshed tears in her eyes.

Most women would be packing their bags and heading for greener pastures after witnessing a car bombing but his woman was not a runner, it just wasn’t in her. “An’ how many bedrooms does the beastie need?”

She laughed softly, “Hen doesn’t need his own room, his mama on the other hand is thinking like four?”

He let out a raspy chuckle “Greedy lass, wha’ do ya need with four bedrooms?”

His good humor was filling her with hopeful energy, she grinned big and toothy. “Well I seem to have been adopted into this stupidly large, dysfunctional family and they’re going to need space to crash when I ply them with alcohol and barbequed foods. I was thinking one bedroom could be an office for me and another could be a bunkroom.”

“Tha’ sounds grand, love.” Chibs squeezed her hand, he could picture it. She’d find a big house somewhere on the outskirts of town with a porch swing and huge back yard for late night family gatherings. She’d fuss over their family like a right proper hostess, passing out sparklers to the older children when it got dark. Then she’d tuck them all into their own bunk beds when they got too sleepy to stay on their feet.

The longing grew sharp in his gut. He almost didn’t live to see her find that house, he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to make it happen now. Once Zobelle was dealt with and the club was back on an even keel he’d help her find it. He beckoned her forward again for another kiss, wincing when he tried to shift his head around to change the angle.

She pulled away and gave him a steely-eyed look when he patted the side of the mattress in an attempt to entice her to join him. “Baby, you might be one tough son of a bitch, but I don’t think your brain can take that shit right now.”

He wanted to lean up and kiss the furrow between her brows. His body hurt too much for even the gentlest sex, but the thought of her warm body pressed up against his aching one was truly tempting. “Jus’ wanted ta have ya next ta me, love” he grumbled.

She melted at the earnest expression on his face and stood to turn her chair around, pressing it tight to his bed and dragging over an extra chair to prop her feet up on, creating a makeshift daybed. She dropped his bed height down to the level of her legs and pressed the button to slide the bedrail down out of the way. Chibs shuffled slowly over to her side, slipping his hand under the arm of the chair to rest on Pixie’s thigh. It wasn’t quite the same as spooning, but it was all he was going to get until the danger of starting another bleed had passed.

\----

Rosen sat down on one of the checkered couches in the clubhouse, looking horribly out of place in his tailored suit.

“Bail is set at half a mill each, there was nothing I could do.” He looked calm but his eyes were uneasy as he looked to Gemma.

_Three million for the lot of them,_ Pixie struggled to keep from whistling at the number, the boys really pissed someone off this time. She couldn’t quite pull that off with the way things were at the moment, but she could start to put more pressure on her lawyers. She mulled it over while listening to Gemma and Rosen’s back and forth.

“They’re jamming us, seven figure bail and no court date? It’s bullshit!” Gemma leaned forwards on the couch, head dropping like a hissing goose.

The dapper looking lawyer pointed out the security tapes that recorded everything that happened at the Christian center.

“You saw what happened to Otto. They got no protection.” Her face was starting to go red in frustration.

Tara brought up the possibility of a bondsman, the green healing bruise across the bridge of her nose standing out prominently.

“$500,000 a head at 10%, you’d need 300k to get the six of them out” Rosen calculated.

“I can post the house” Gemma replied looking hopeful.

“My dad’s too” Tara added.

“Okay, well that’s enough to get out Clay and maybe Jax, but that’s it” The lawyer explained with a doubtful look.

“No, Clay won’t leave them behind” Gemma replied with a heavy sigh.

“I’m sorry Gemma” Rosen started to apologise, but Pixie cut him off with a grin.

“Do you take cheques?” She had never seen Gemma’s jaw gape open quite like that before.  

 ----

“Ya did _what_?” Chibs voice was far too raised for someone still on the critical list. She could see the little vein in his forehead pulse in response to his increase in blood pressure. Damn his Scottish temper, she cursed, raising an eyebrow at him in a clear challenge.

“I fronted the money for the bondsman… with the understanding that if I don’t get every cent back I’ll kill them in their sleep. Except Juice, Tia would be mad if I killed him…and maybe Happy.” She leaned over the bedrail to kiss that twitchy little vein.

“Glad ta know yer favorites are safe from yer wrath, but ya know ya didnae have ta do tha, aye?” His face was a mask of concern.

“I know, but I wanted to. The bondsman wasn’t manageable for Gemma and Tara on their own and I wasn’t about to leave the boys there like sitting ducks.” She shrugged, hoping he would let it go.

He paused for a moment. “How unmanageable?” he shot her the same no-nonsense look he gave to Kip when the prospect did something really stupid.

Pixie tried not to cringe and mumbled “Three hundred” gritting her teeth for the backlash, hoping he didn’t induce another brain bleed.

His eyes squeezed closed and he coughed roughly. “Three hundred grand? Lass…” he was at a loss for words.

“I know, I know.” She waved dismissively. “It’s fine. Think of it as a present from my grandma, she loved Juice, would have loved you too.” She really would have, her grandmother had always appreciated men with a wild side that still knew how to take care of business, not to mention the accent would have melted her.

Chibs gave her a questioning look. “Yer inheritance? Lass, ya shoudnae go sinking yer savings in ta bailin’ the boys out, they woulda found protection eventually.”

He looked so upset on her behalf. _Story time with Pixie_ , she though. She wasn’t about to let him feel guilty for her spending money that wasn’t even really hers on the men she loved.

“When I say it’s fine, I mean it. It was a fraction of the funds I have, and it’ll be an even smaller fraction once the lawyers sort their shit out.” She sat on the side of the bed, tucking one knee up and keeping the other foot on the floor.

“Look, Grams came from old money, born with a proverbial silver spoon in her mouth. Gramp was the only son of two immigrant parents and a hard working country vet. When they eloped my great grandfather disowned Grams, it wasn’t until after he died that her mother had her written back into the will. By that point Grams was used to a much simpler life and took pride in her ability to live by her own means, so she let lawyers manage most of her assets until she passed.”

“Wha’ does tha’ mean, love?” He looked confused.

Pixie leaned down to kiss him in reassurance. “It means that I’m a hard working woman with a piece of shit truck and a slobbery dog. Nothing changes; I just might have to make a trip or two to Seattle to sign some paperwork and deal with a few greedy relatives that’ve been trying to stonewall me.” She shrugged, trying to convey how little this would actually affect things.

Chibs huffed “Ya better no’ start acting like ma sugar mama, can still turn ya over ma knee.”

Her prideful biker, she stifled a snort, he needed to know that she wasn’t going to unbalance the equality between them. “Smartass” she replied. “You’re getting coal for Christmas.”

He chuckled and reached out an arm to pull her down for a lazy kiss, but was interrupted by her cell ringing.

She answered it with an irritated huff. “What took so damn long?” She was quiet for a long moment, expression growing increasingly stormy before she exploded. “What the ever-loving _fuck_ did you just say? Jesus Christ! When are they transporting him?” A deep frown marred her face as she listened and then hung up with a vicious jab of her finger.

She turned to Chibs, pressing her lips together. “My idiot brother got shanked in a brawl just before they were released. The knife nicked a kidney, so they’re transporting him here for surgery.” She dropped down in the chair, slumping over the side of the bed. “I can’t lose him, Filip” she whispered.

He reached out a hand and stroked it over her hair trying to process the news. “It’ll be okay, love, Juicy boy ain’t gonna die on ya jus’ yet, lad’s tough.”

She wiped her eyes and straitened her shoulders. “Of course he’ll be fine, dumbass doesn’t know how to die. Are you going to be okay for a while if I wait downstairs for him?”

Chibs nodded gently “Aye, keep me posted.” He double checked that his pre-paid was sitting in reach on the bedside table.

“I’ll text you as soon as I hear anything” she confirmed before giving him a lingering kiss goodbye.

Walking out in the hall, she leaned against the wall and fought not to slide to her knees. It felt like they were caught in a shit storm that just kept escalating. Pulse beating a rapid tattoo against her temples, she tried not to hyperventilate, now was not the time to having a meltdown. When she got home she could have herself a real good cry, until then too many people were relying on her.

Proceeding to the emergency entrance she paced anxiously, not stopping until she spotted her brother being wheeled in. He was pale, but tried to wave when he spotted her. She smiled back and waited until the activity around him died down a bit before pressing her lips to his cheek. The smile he gave her was soft and sweet, it made him look like the little boy he’d once been. She resolved to do everything possible to get him to smile like that again.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing but the OCs. Thanks again for all the comments and kudos, happy reading!

Pixie woke dazed and confused, unsure where she was or what time of day it was. She took a second to sit up and evaluate. It was her room, so she was at home and the clock was blinking 7:45, her eyes focused enough to make out the tiny ‘a.m.’ so she gathered it must be morning. Sticking up her fingers she counted backwards, yep, a whole ten hours of sleep. Why did she feel like a zombie?

Doing the undead shamble to the bathroom, she splashed cold water on her face. The dark smudges under her eyes were starting to resemble bruises. She pulled a headband from the drawer, she was going to need a lot of concealer to cover those babies up, but it would have to wait until after her run. Poor Hen had been neglected long enough, being passed between Opie’s kids and Tig while she was at the hospital, he deserved a little TLC before she had to leave again.

Stretched and ready to go, they jogged their typical route and stopping briefly at the small neighborhood park to romp with a few other dogs before heading home. Freshening up his water and making them both some breakfast, Pixie took a hot shower. After a few days of no sleep and not really taking care of herself, she needed a good scrub.

She took the time to blow-dry her hair silky smooth, flipping the ends out with a round brush. Applying a pink hued under eye concealer next, she blended it carefully and set it with some powder, the dark circles hardly noticeable. A little eyeliner and some mascara rounded out her look, more elaborate than she would normally do for a weekday but she needed it after the last few nightmarish days.

War paint on the petite blond felt ready to face the day. She grabbed Hennessey’s travel bag and loaded her jowly baby into the truck so he could spend the day playing with Kenny and Ellie. She suspected that the Winston children were trying to convince their father that they were responsible enough for a dog of their own, but whatever their motivation Hen always enjoyed his time with them and came home dead tired.

With Hen taken care of, she stopped at the café to pick up a cranberry scone and a thermos full of dark tea that Chibs assured her was what a real cuppa was supposed to taste like. She also made sure to pick up a big bottle of ginger ale for Juice who was feeling nauseated from all of the post-op antibiotics.

The surgical ward was on the second floor, so she stopped to visit Juice first. He was wide awake and practically vibrating when she leaned over the bed to give him a kiss. “Hey hun, how was your night?”

He shrugged still looking pale. “It was a’ight, kept getting woken up for vitals checks and more pills.”    

“Did they get the TV working? I brought you some ginger ale and your good laptop.” A bored Juice was never a good idea, he needed to be working on something or he’d wind up getting himself into trouble.

“Thanks” he grinned “Antibiotics are murder on my stomach.” He had the computer powered on within seconds of it being placed on his bedside table.

“I’ll let you work for a bit. I think Tig is planning to stop by after lunch, I’ll be back before dinner. The Doc okayed me bringing in some real food for you.” Health nut that her brother was, he still enjoyed spice and texture. Hospital food, while healthy, was bland and more closely resembled the texture of soggy cereal.

His smile turned huge and toothy. “You’re the best!”

“I know, baby, I’ll see you later” she replied with a smile, closing the door behind her as she exited his private room. It was a good thing she made a point of paying for premium insurance for her brother, he was putting it to good use. Heaving a sigh, Pixie took the stairs up one more floor to ICU.

Chibs was still asleep when she tiptoed into the room, waving hi to the staff at the nursing station. His eyes fluttered open a few minutes later, smiling when he saw her. “Mornin’ love, how’s Juicy boy doin?”

“I brought him his other laptop, so he’s happy as a calm. I brought you some tea and a scone.” Kissing his dry lips, she set the thermos and scone down on his table and rolled it across his lap. One he tucked in, Pixie sat back in her chair and pulled a home and garden magazine out of her bag. Maybe it could give her some inspiration for finding a new place.

The door to his room opened to reveal the towheaded Dr. Andrews clutching a clipboard. When he spotted Pixie he grinned, flashing his bleach white teeth. “Good morning! How are we feeling today?” The question was aimed at Chibs, but he kept his gaze on Pixie.

Pixie raised an eyebrow at him and turned to the injured Scott, placing a hand over his. Chibs responded, accent thick from sleep. “Feel fine, Doc, head’s startin ta hurt less.”

The younger man finally looked over at his patient. “Good, good. You know you should probably stick to the prescribed diet” he added frowning at the baked good.

Hackles up, Pixie jumped in. “Dr. Gallagher said it was fine when I asked yesterday, but I’d be happy to let him know you disagree.” The ‘prick’ was implied.

Holding his hands up in a defensive gesture, the young doctor gave her a phony smile. “If Dr. Gallagher okayed it, then I’m sure it’s fine.” He shuffled around the room for a while, doing a quick neurological assessment. “You’re progressing nicely Mr. Telford, you should be taken off the critical list soon.” He tucked his penlight back in his pocket. “You’re lucky to have such an attentive daughter” he said looking her up and down.  

Chibs squeezed her hand hard, eyes narrowing. Standing up, Pixie leaned over the bed and gave her man a soft kiss before sitting on the corner of the mattress. “You’re a bright man Dr. Andrews, does it look like he’s my father?”

“Miss…” he began, a dark flush rising in his cheeks, but she cut him off.

“It’s Doctor, and I think we would prefer to work exclusively with Dr. Gallagher from now on.” Seeing the look of utter condescension on her face, the tall man nodded sharply and fled the room.

“That’s ma girl” Chibs said chuckling lowly. The father comment chafed a bit, she was so much younger than him after all. Sometimes it felt a bit like he’d robbed the cradle.

“Pffft, he was being an uppity little asshole! He knows very well that the chart says ‘next-of-kin’ not daughter, besides, you would’ve only been 13 when I was conceived.” She rolled her eyes, sitting back down in her chair in a huff.

Taking a slow sip of the tea she brought him, Chibs wrestled with the impulse to tell her that he loved her. Instead, he finished his tea and closed his eyes, it was too soon. He needed to let her get past him almost getting blow up before he could trust that she wouldn’t say it in return as a knee-jerk reaction to almost losing him.

Bad temper fleeing at the sight of Chibs nodding off, Pixie turned back to her magazine.

\----

Barely an hour had gone by when the door opened again, expecting one of the nurses Pixie raised her head with a smile. It dropped from her face when she saw the dark haired woman in slacks staring blatantly at her. “Hi? Can I help you?”

The woman quirked an eyebrow, her dark eyes narrowing as she replied with a distinctly Irish lilt. “Fiona Larkin, and you are?”

The name was like a punch to the gut. “Pixie Oline, it’s nice to meet you. I take it you heard what happened?”

The older woman nodded her head. “Our daughter found out an’ begged me ta check on ‘im.” She looked the bandaged man over and her frown deepened. “How is he?”

“Getting better, he should be out of intensive care soon, stubborn bastard that he is” she said smiling ruefully, it was hard to be cold to someone that was so obviously concerned about the scarred biker. “He’ll be real happy to know that Kerianne was thinking about him, though.”

Fiona gave a small smile in return and took a seat. She really was a beautiful woman, with skin like good coffee with a generous splash of cream. She looked put together too, wearing designer clothes and strappy heels. Jimmy O must be taking good care of her.

_She probably wants some time alone with him_ , Pixie reasoned, unsure how safe that might be. Deciding that she would wake the slumbering man to let him decide for himself, she reached over and gently patted him on the center of his broad chest. “Filip? You have a visitor, hun, you need to wake up.”

His bleary eyes peeled open and he reached up to bring her down for a kiss. She patted his hand and placed it back on his chest, not wanting to be so obviously affectionate with his wife in the room. “Someone is here to see you” she said nodding her head in Fiona’s direction.

He sucked in a sharp breath, staring at the guest with disbelief. “Fiona?”

A large smile crossed the older woman’s face. “Mornin’.”

Pixie leaned down and squeezed his hand, asking “Should I go check on Juice for a bit?”

He blinked, turning back to her and thought about it for a moment. “Sure, poor lad’s probably lonesome by now. Maybe ya could bring me some more tea in a little while?”

_Message received_ , she nodded and gave him one last pat before heading out the door and dialing Gemma’s number.

“Hey sweetheart, how’re Chibs and Juice doing?” Gemma enquired, puffing away on a cigarette.

“They’re fine, whining about wanting to go home and making the nurses’ lives hell, but fine. How are you and Tara? Juice may or may not have shown me some suspicious security footage from Cara Cara the other day…” She could hardly get through the sentence without bursting into laughter.

“Just blowing off some steam, you should come with us next time.”

Pixie snorted. “I would love to, so long as you swear to never ever use a cup-and-saucer grip on a semi-auto ever again. Ever.” She knew exactly what damage a magazine could do to a misplaced hand if it was ejected with enough force; Gramps would have smacked her upside the head for being so careless.

“You’re correcting my grip, but not shooting up the porn bitch’s car…I knew there was a reason I liked you.” She was joking, but Pixie still felt a tendril of warmth in her chest whenever the Queen said something like that.

“Woman, you know you love me” she grinned.

“Bitch. You coming to dinner tonight?”

With the feud between Clay and Jax making thing tense, and both Chibs and Juice in the hospital Pixie would less than stellar company. “No, sorry, I promised the boys I’d bring them some home cooking.”

“I’m sure they’re dying for some real food after eating that slop. Give them a hug for me, I’ll come by tomorrow.”

“I may need you to come by a little sooner, we’ve got ourselves an Irish situation. Fiona just showed up at the hospital, which means Jimmy O is here too.” She brought Gemma up to speed quickly, surprised when she mentioned that she had met ‘the Irish Bitch’ before.

“Don’t leave him alone for too long sweetheart, he can’t be unprotected” Gemma advised, dead serious.

“I’m going to go check on Juice for a bit and then I’ll go back up for lunch, I’ll leave you to activate the phone tree.” She was only half joking, the info would spread faster than a wildfire now that the Queen Bee knew.

She kept walking to Juices room, knocking softly before entering. He was still hunched over his laptop, typing furiously. “Hey, how goes the battle?”

The typing stopped and he looked up at her with a relaxed grin. “It’s going, what’s happening with Chibs?” It was funny how much happier he was when he had a task to focus on, he’d never done well without structure.

“The mysterious Fiona showed up out of the blue, I’m giving them some time to talk before I go back to make sure that she didn’t finish the job.” She knew logically that Fiona wouldn’t try to kill her husband, but Pixie couldn’t help the anxiety that prickled down her spine. Fiona might not kill him, but Jimmy O could and would, given the right circumstances.

“Shit! You call the guys?” He bounced his leg nervously, not liking the thought of leaving his brother so vulnerable.

“Called Gemma, she’s gonna light up the bat signal.” Sighing heavily, she flopped down on the end of her brother’s bed.

He huffed at her dramatics. “What’s really got you twisted?”

“I didn’t think I would feel so…reluctant to leave him with her. I mean, I know he said he’s not in love with her anymore, but she’s his _wife_ …I think that’s just sinking in.” She looked at Juice, dismayed. “I’m the other woman.” A sick feeling was welling up inside her at the thought.

Juice pushed his table aside and grabbed her hand, pulling her up to lay beside him. Caressing her hair he tried to come up with the right words. “You’re not the _other woman_ …well, in a legal sense you are…but to Chibs you’re not. Look, he’s crazy about you and no way is he ever getting back together with Fiona. She chose to let him go, now she’s gotta live with watching him be happy with someone else.”  

Throwing a leg across his lap, Pixie pressed a kiss to his stubbly cheek. “I kinda love you, ya know?”

\----

After the door clicked shut, the former couple stared at each other, not really knowing where to start. After a moment, Fiona leaned over the bed and kissed Chibs’ cheek, lingering for a while. “That’s from Kerrianne” she whispered as she stood upright.

The mention of his daughter made him smile, until he remembered who Fiona would be traveling with. “You alone?” asked Chibs, scanning the room. Jimmy would never let her out of his sight without some sort of escort.

“Doesn’t matter, came ta see you. How’re you feeling?” Fiona asked, cocking her head and tutting at the bandages that covered the Scot.

“Like I was blown up” he replied tersely. “Doctor says I’m healing.”

“I’m glad” she said laughing lightly at his surly disposition.

 “Bad idea, you comin’ here” he said looking away from her.

“My life’s a series of bad ideas, lovey” she smiled, placing her hand over top of his.

“Yeah” he muttered, letting his eyes drift shut for a second in exhaustion.

“She’s pretty, the young lass who was watching over you” Fiona stated, fishing for information.

“Aye” he agreed, suddenly feeling wide awake. Nothing good was going to come of Fiona poking around his relationship with the Vet, he could feel it all the way down to his achy bones.

“She a club girl?” the dark haired woman continued.

“No, she’s sister ta one o’the lads and a doctor ta boot.” He was desperately scrambling to trying to decide how much to give away, he was never good at keeping things from Fi.

“And?” She knew there was more to it than that, there had to be with the way he reacted to the petite blond. Men like Filip kept an educated and independent woman around for one of two reasons and since she wasn’t a lawyer, that discounted option one.

“And, I don’ owe ya an explanation, Fi” he spoke roughly, feeling the beginnings of a headache starting up.

“No, I don’t suppose you do” she sighed sitting back down in the chair, a frown marring her expression.

\----

Tea in hand, Pixie hesitated for a moment and knocked before entering Chibs’ room. He was fast asleep, producing a sound that was part snore, part heavy breathing, and entirely fictional according to the older man.

Fiona was still perched primly on one of the ugly green chairs at his bedside, flipping through an old magazine. She paused and looked up at Pixie through a curtain of dark lashes, her expression was obviously a well-rehearsed pleasant neutrality.

Pixie faked a polite smile, whisper talking so as not to wake up the slumbering man. “Hey, have a good visit? He’s been able to stay awake for much longer these past few days.”

Smoothing out the wrinkles in her slacks, the older woman stood and crossed the room to Pixie. “He’s always been a strong man, but I’m glad he’s got someone ta look after ‘im.”

She didn’t look very glad to Pixie. “He’s not an easy patient, but I do my best.” The dark haired woman didn’t laugh. “It was good of you to come, hearing word from Kerrianne means everything to him.” Knowing the stubborn man, he probably did his best not to show it but she was sure he was elated to know that his little girl was thinking about him too.

Fiona nodded and said “Ya don’t seem ta be flinching at the thought of him having a teenage daughter, I take it he talked about us?”

Smiling knowingly, Pixie tried to choose her words carefully, not wanting to give her too much. “He told me about you and his daughter fairly soon after we met. He keeps an old picture of Kerrianne in his wallet, I think it’s real sweet.”

“And it doesn’t frighten you to know that he’s got a wife and child?” Fiona looked puzzled, like Pixie being able to tolerate Chibs’ past was some sort of ploy.

“No. This is America, land of the free and home of the divorced. A person having a past relationship isn’t really a novel concept out here and I’m not religious so living in sin isn’t really an issue for me.” She shrugged, him not being able to divorce his wife wasn’t a _big_ issue for her but it still might be nice to be able to wear a white dress someday. _Oh well_ , she thought _, there’s always the option of a crow instead of a ring_.

Fiona huffed out a gentle laugh. “Suppose that’s true.” She placed a hand on Pixie’s arm and continued. “I am glad he’s not alone.” She waved and walked off before the other woman could react, the click of her heels following her down the hall.    

Pixie sank down on a chair, confused and exhausted, Gemma had nothing on the Irish woman’s ability to pry for information. She sat there for a while, staring blankly at the walls while trying to process the implications of Fiona’s visit. It felt like they were in the eye of a storm, like everything was building up to some calamitous happening and Fiona was the harbinger of dangers yet to come.

Shaking her head, Pixie tried to stop catastrophizing, it wasn’t going to help anything. She penned a quick note and left it beside Chibs’ pre-paid to let him know she would be back with dinner for him and Juice in a few hours. The drive home was done mostly on autopilot.

\----

Slipping quietly around the unit and past the nurse’s station, Juice managed to sneak into Chibs’ room in ICU. It wasn’t the first time he had done so, but this time he made sure to check for the crotchety old nurse that shooed him away the last time. He smiled at his sister who was fussing over the Tupperware containers of food she packed for them. The aroma of roasted chicken and garlic mashed potatoes made his stomach rumble. He had never been a picky eater, but the flavourless gruel the hospital served was definitely an exception to his palate.    

“Smells awesome!” He said with a grin, leaning over to give Pixie a kiss on the cheek and his brother a firm pat on the leg and he gravitated towards the food.

They gathered around Chibs’ bed, serving themselves buffet style from the bedside table before Juice and Pixie each took seats on either side of the bed. “Alright, dig in before it gets cold” she exclaimed, pausing before eating to enjoy the look of utter satisfaction on her boys’ faces when the tucked in.

They laughed together over their meal, jostling Chibs in is bed with their playful shoves. For the first time since the explosion, Pixie felt like she was going to burst at the seams she was so filled with happiness. They were a family, her, Juice and Chibs, a weird and sometimes dysfunctional one, but a family none the less.

The tight and ever-present knot that had been twisting in her stomach was finally starting to let go. Her anxiety had been like white noise humming at the back of her mind, keeping her vigilant. Now, warm from the food and surrounded by her boys there was nothing but the sound of their laughter and the drowsy weight of days with little sleep lapping at the edges of her consciousness.

Eyelids starting to droop, she tucked her feet up and curled carefully against Chibs’ side, struggling to follow the conversation her boys were having about the pros and cons of this bike or that. Chibs huffed a quiet laugh at her expense, but tucked his arm around her and reclined the head of the bed so she could lean comfortably back.

“Sleepy, love?” He asked quietly, his rough voice betraying his own fatigue.

Pixie gave a noncommittal hum, and made an effort to pry her eyes open. Juice was snickering at her openly. “Pussy” he mocked sticking his tongue out. She flipped him off in reply.

Chibs rolled his eyes at their antics. “Close yer eyes for a spell, love, cannae drive home if yer gonna fall asleep at the wheel.”

Juice made a dismissive noise at the sappy display. “I’mma go back to my room before ya give me cavities.” He leaned over to deliver a kiss to his sister’s forehead before making good his escape.

Mohawked brother gone, Chibs reclined the bed further and turned off the overhead light. A groan escaped the tired blond burying her face into his chest. He chuckled and tilted her chin up for a proper kiss. Pulling apart with a slick sound, Pixie’s head fell back to his shoulder with a contented sigh.

“Thank you, fer bein understandin about Fiona today” he said, breaking the comfortable quiet between them.

Pixie tiled her head back to be able to see Chibs’ face. “She said the magic word, Kerrianne, so I figured I’d give her a pass for showing up out of the blue just this once” she joked with a small smirk that was mostly bravado.

“ ‘Preciate it lass, I don’ like her showing up like that with no warnin, but it was nice ta hear about ma girl.” The thought of Kerri worrying about him still gave Chibs a warm feeling deep in his chest.

“I have to ask, Filip, are you in any danger with her being here?” The thought had been weighing heavily on her mind since the dark haired woman walked through the door.

He took a moment to find the right words, not wanting to worry her but also knowing she would smell a lie. “I’ll be fine, love, if Jimmy’d wanted ta kill me he’d a done it long ago. I doubt tha’ I’m the reason he and Fi are stateside anyways.” As long as he played his part, Jimmy would leave him to his exile.

Nodding against his shoulder, Pixie looked away. “I can see where Kerrianne gets her good looks, Fiona is a beautiful woman.” It felt kind of pathetic, but they were such different women, it was intimidating to see how dissimilar she really was to the one woman Chibs had ever had a long term relationship with.

Treading carefully Chibs replied. “Aye, she is, was the first thing I noticed about her. I was a wee fool back then and she seemed so experienced and confident. I didnea realize until later who she was related ta, scared the shite outta me it did.” He chuckled at his past ignorance, Fi had jumped on him the moment she realized that he hadn’t had a clue who she was. By the time he found out, he was too far gone to consider stopping.

“Fi used her beauty like a weapon, deadly she was, but when things cooled down it took us awhile ta figure out how ta be in a proper relationship and by then Fi was pregnant, so there was nothing for it but ta get married.” He remembered sweating through his shirt waiting at the altar for Fiona, her disapproving father glaring daggers at the back of his head. She’d been radiant, walking down the aisle and he could recall the wave of pride he felt staring at the slight swell of her stomach under the white dress.  

Pixie hummed, unsure how to respond, it was hard to think straight with her head so muddled. She pressed a hand to the center of his chest. “I’m sorry for what you had to go through, but I can’t say I’m sorry that you’re here with me now.” Even if it did break her heart when he stared longingly at his picture of Kerrianne, she couldn’t bring herself to regret their relationship. She only hoped that even with Fiona in reach and he would still choose her.


End file.
